CrossWorld
by Corpj123
Summary: After a boy is transported to the Pokemon World, via circumstances mysterious to him, he sets out, determined to return to his homeworld.
1. Prologue

Oddly enough, I never thought that it would turn out this way.

As any other damn kid of my generation- born in the early to mid 90's- when I was little, I wished that I could be a Pokemon trainer. Back at five or six, who honestly didn't? No sane kid that knew of Pokemon, that's for sure. It was well-known, even back then, and even in more modern years, if anything, the franchise of Pokemon has only become even more popular and larger, than it's ever been before.

It had turned into a juggernaut as the games and the show chugged along- and, it only spawned more stuff, as time went on. A manga, the anime series that continued on and on, more spin-off games than you could count, movies, merchandise- name it, and Pokemon had their own cute, little Pocket Monster version of it.

Undoubtedly with Pikachu on the front, too.

Even Pokemon condoms- you know what? Not even going to go there.

You get the point.

As our generation grew up though- let's just call us the Pokeration- we became less and less enamored with it. Love descended into an intense fondness, which again descended into normal fondness, which then finally turned into an old nostalgia. That's all it was to a lot of teenagers, though; old nostalgia. People my age- at a tender seventeen, scarcely played the games or watched the anime, as terrible as it's become, as much as they used to.

Even I couldn't deny it- I was the same. I hadn't really played Pokemon in years- and I had skipped over the third gen entirely. I'd only played the fourth generation a bit- but hardly knew any of the Pokemon from either of the generations. Only the legendaries, and the coolest ones, and I hardly even remembered them, either.

It had turned out that the anime and the games had gotten everything only a tiny bit wrong.

See, I'd gone to the Pokemon world. In person. Now, before you go calling for orderlies and padded rooms, I can easily prove it to you- and by not doing anything else but appearing in public. This had all started over one thing- and now it had become much, much more- but believe me. You'll be hearing about Pokemon trainers in the news soon, anyway.

So, like I said, the anime and the game had gotten everything a tiny bit wrong. Some of them were small, some of them were not. Things like the strength of a Pokemon, and how fast they grew- and evolution, too. It seemed that, with just as many things the games had gotten right- Pokemon species, city names… they'd gotten just as many things wrong, maybe even more.

It had started all over one thing- something that I only found out about later- but turned into much, much more- like I said before. This story will be long, and it'll be grueling. Regardless, I feel that I have to tell it- if only so that other people, who would wonder why Pokemon are starting to appear in the real world, will have an explanation.

In a way, it's my fault, due to my greed.

But, once you read this, and find out what happened, I don't think you'd blame me either, honestly.

At least, I hope you wouldn't blame me.

So, let me tell you a story.

Let me tell you a story that began extremely bizarrely.

Let me tell you the story of why an angry Tyranitar mom wanted to bash my brains in with a Rock Slide almost as soon as I got there, and a story of how the ten and a half foot tall, sage-green, rocky being had nearly done it, too.


	2. Chapter 1

It had started as a lot of stories do, on a day that was mundane, boring, and like any other. I was a senior in high school back then, and had no idea what I was going to do when I finished normal schooling. Most people say go to college.

I didn't share the same love for college that they did.

I looked at it as a deathtrap, at least, for me. I didn't have completely terrible grades, and wasn't really stupid, by any sense of the word, but at the same time, my grades weren't something you'd write home about, and my test scores weren't anything that you'd marvel at, either, to say the least.

By that, I meant they were shitty.

But what all of this resulted in was a lot of money that would probably have to be paid in order for me to go college. Loans, all kinds of bills and fees, not to mention the cash black-hole that was tuition, at least at any decent college that was worth attending.

My parents, while decently well-off, certainly couldn't afford to send me to any college. It'd break the bank for sure, and I didn't even really want to go college, anyway. In a way, my bad grades were good for me.

It still didn't help the fact that I had no idea what to do with my life after school, though. In addition to having a few friends at high school, and none else, besides people I chatted with online- but they didn't count, not really, anyway- I didn't have a girlfriend either. My life was really going nowhere, fast.

And then, in mid-April of my senior year, it all changed.

XxXxX

The bleep of my alarm clock woke me up as it blared in the hellish morning. Groaning, I felt around on my windowsill for the switch. It took me a few tries to find it, but I managed to turn it off. The evil noise ceased at once, and I was left lying on my blue bed in the dark, comforting silence of my bedroom.

How did the universe even keep turning, or exist, at a time this early?

I didn't know. But I sure did curse about it as I got up and stumbled through the shadows of the house. Due to my exhaustion, and incoherent state, it took me nearly thirty seconds to get to my bathroom, despite the fact that it was almost directly next to my room.

I let my bladder relax and relieved myself, before flushing the yellow toilet water, and looking at my disheveled appearance in the mirror. I looked the same as I always did- just about, I suppose. Long blonde hair, with bed head, brown eyes, and bags under them- when weren't there bags under my eyes? - With white tan skin, and drool sticking to the side of my mouth.

Perfect. I looked ready for the day.

Yeah, right. I stumbled back in my room for a minute, to grab a pair of clean boxers- I didn't really feel like going to school with dirty underwear- before walking back into the small bathroom. I left the boxers hanging off of the towel rack next to the towels, and then promptly hopped into the shower. I sighed in delight as the warm water woke me up, but not too fast. It wasn't jarring, but instead, soothing.

I enjoyed taking long showers, but usually, I didn't get to. People in the house started getting up soon after me and I couldn't hog the shower forever, despite an intense want to do so. I took the time to clean up as fast as I could, and, lo and behold, it was only perhaps ten minutes later when someone started banging on the door.

"Get out!" The voice screeched. I was already hurrying, washing the shampoo suds out of my hair, and then I heard the voice scream gain, before huffing and waiting a little bit longer. I jumped out as fast as I could and dried myself in record time, throwing my boxers on as I did so.

The second I opened the door, Mira, my twelve year old sister, stormed into the bathroom and pushed me out with what was surprising strength for a prepubescent girl. I rolled my eyes at her drama. It wasn't anything that could be considered new- perhaps she just woke up more bitchy than normal this morning.

I finished getting dressed in my bedroom and went out into the living room/kitchen combo that we had in our house. Our house was small, for four people, but it was definitely cozy and homey, and I had never minded the space before. My father was already up.

He was an older man, waiting out in the living room for breakfast to cook as he tended to it. He had no facial hair, because he kept it shaved. But he was hairy on his head, although it had started getting sparser as of late. He had a light brown bed-head and tanned skin, and was already dressed for work.

He smiled at me when I walked out, but otherwise stayed silent as he fried many eggs in the frying pan, and, in the toaster, he toasted what must've been the fourth or fifth pair of bread slices, judging by the fairly large pile that was already present on a plain white plate next to the toaster. He always cooked and did the household chores because he was a stay-at-home dad- dressed for work in a white t-shirt, jeans, and an apron.

My mother was the real breadwinner of the family: with a job like a high position in a company, it was no surprise she was able to earn most of the money for the household herself. My dad wasn't completely unemployed- he played around on the stock market and did the occasional odd job, but he mostly stayed home.

I secretly thought sometimes that he would've liked to have a job, but the economy wasn't the greatest, anyway, and it seemed like no one was ever hiring.

He grinned again as he moved the eggs in the pan. He didn't let it affect him.

We had a long commute to school, which was part of the reason we woke up so early. Mira got out of the shower not long after, and waited for breakfast with me on the couch.

I was dressed pretty simply- a long-sleeved shirt, blue, with faded jeans that were light blue from repeated use. Our school didn't have a required uniform policy, but it did have light guidelines that we had to follow: no short shorts, skirts had to be a certain length, no curse words on clothing- things like that.

Mira had just started 6th grade this year, and looked like an adorable little scamp, even if she did bitch and moan a lot. She had her hair in a bun and had a twirling skirt with a dress shirt that always seemed to stick to her neck, like it was too tight. The elementary and middle school that she and I went to had a dress code, but the high school didn't. It didn't make much sense, but oh well. I'd long since given up understanding life.

Much less girls- both seemed impossible, at the best of times.

Before long, Dad had finished up breakfast, and doled out portions onto our plates. We ate eagerly and quietly, at the table early in the morning. There wasn't much energy in any of us today, and nothing was said. Mom would get up later, and eat the still warm breakfast that Dad always left in the microwave.

Today, along with the eggs and toast, Dad had made some scrumptious bacon that we devoured heartily, and before long, we were ready to go. Mira and I fought over the bathroom in the hurry to brush our teeth, but I ended up winning, as I usually did.

Rushing around, I managed to grab my phone and my bookbag as we got ready to leave. I gave one last glance to my house as we got ready to leave. My mom, tired but smiling, with her beautiful black hair, hung out of the door, and waved us goodbye as we left the house.

I waved back at her as we drove away.

Little did I know, I wouldn't be seeing my house or my Mom for again for a long, long time. Or my Dad, or my sister.

No, I wouldn't be seeing them for a while.

XxXxX

Dad dropped me off at my high school after dropping off Mira first. I smiled at the SUV as it pulled away. Dad was going back home, now. I turned and faced my high school, glancing at the name printed in huge, fading letters on the outside.

Pyre Senior High was the school I attended. I'd been going here for four years. I only had three real friends here that had similar interests to mine- and I was going to meet with them, right now. Jack, Matt, and Terry- the three guys I most identified with, and knew the closest.

It was a daily ritual- meeting my friends early on in the morning. We'd been doing it ever since the end of freshman year. We also usually met up at Terry's house after school, too- talked, played video games, and just generally waste time, not do homework, call each other gay, you know.

It was great.

It was something I looked forward to every day- probably the highlight of my day. It was always good, wholesome fun, and it was a good way to spend my time. Like me, my friends were equally in the dark about what they'd be doing after high school- but, just like me, they were all pretty chill dudes, in general.

We usually met up in the lunchroom. It was mostly empty in the warm spring morning, and Terry, Jack, and Matt were already there. They seemed to be already talking, as they usually were, and weren't surprised, but still welcomed me when I got to the table.

"Did you guys hear about the sixth generation of Pokemon yet?" I asked as I sat down. It's fairly- no, very- ironic and hilarious that we happened to be talking about Pokemon on the day we were brought to their world. To this day, I still don't know whether or not it was fate, or just random chance.

"Oh, yeah," Terry said. "I saw some of that. Did you get to see MewThree, or whatever it is that they're calling it? It looked pretty badass." Terry was black- light black, with hazel eyes and hair that was cut short. He was wearing a white T-shirt that showed off his muscles- out of all of us, he was the most athletic, though he was only leanly muscled, and not a huge meathead. His pants were a dark blue, that didn't seem to reach all the way down his ankles, and his shoes seemed too tight on him, too.

"I don't even know, man. Call me a gen one-er, if you want to, or even a gen two-er, but I've said it before, and I'll say it again," Matt said, and then he leaned back in his seat, and stretched, before he finished his response, "I've always felt that once Gen Three came out, the games started sucking."

Matt was white like me, but a lighter shade-,and much less tanned. He had on a green jacket with a red undershirt, and jeans that weren't faded. They actually looked like a new pair, if anything. He had a small nose, with facial features that were anything but unusual, and a lanky body type. He was a gen one-er, or a gen two-er, as he said himself, which meant that he only liked Pokemon up to that point, and then he hated it.

"Dude, are you serious? Like, for real?" It was Jack was speaking now, and along with him, the rest of us never really got over Matt's illogical dislike and abhorrence for Gen Three. Jack was Asian, and a white t-shirt hung off his body- he was fairly thin. He wore long pants that bunched up at the bottom- khakis way too lengthy for his legs.

"Come on, man! Dude, Gen Three had Blaziken! It had Sceptile! It had Metagross- and you can't lie, Metagross is badass- and you love dragon Pokemon, and it introduced some new ones- most importantly, Salamence! How exactly is it that Gen Three is your least favorite set of Pokemon games by far, while your favorite 'mon is still Salamence?"

Matt didn't have an answer for that, and Jack lorded it over him even more, if possible.

"See, there's not even a real reason for it! He's just being a stubborn prick. Well, I'll be having fun playing my Emerald and catching my Bagon and Swablu and all kinds of dragon pre-evo's, and you can just sit right there and be jelly, 'kay?"

Jack was really good at being a douchebag, if he wanted to. The way he spoke those words with false cheer was hilarious. Even if Matt or Terry were more intimidating than him, I'd rather never get on Jack's bad side if I could help it.

Jack usually played the most Pokemon out of any of us- and, by far, he played the most competitive. While the rest of us barely kept up with Pokemon, as previously mentioned, Jack was the only one who actively went out and bought and played the newest generations, on a consistent basis. He was a pretty huge Pokefreak.

Like a true try-hard- as we often called him- he had a copy of Pokemon Pearl in the car-slot of his DS, and in his GBA slot he had a worn but playable copy of Pokemon Emerald. Soon, we all heard the starting theme of Pearl playing- strange, as he said he was going to play Emerald. It was a few seconds before I spoke up.

"I thought you were going to play Emerald, not Pearl?" I asked, confused. Everyone else voiced similar thoughts, and Jack nodded, even as he brought out his stylus and started to click through random options that I couldn't see because his DS was turned away from me. Jack replied, though it was clear he was distracted as he spoke, tapping on the screen.

"Yeah, I know. I just wanted to check on my-" He was interrupted as his DS made a loud screeching noise that had us all covering our ears in pain. Jack fumbled about for a moment, trying to turn down the volume, but it wasn't any use. If anything, the volume only got louder over time. Jack reached over for the switch and turned it off, saving us from teenage deafness.

We'd attracted attention, and more than a few kids were looking our way, some amused, some glowering, and some with bored stares that soon looked back to their own tables or their own friends. Soon enough, all the frowns that we'd been receiving for the loud, obnoxious, unbearable sound had ceased. Once all that had transpired, we gave angry, disappointed glares at Jack's DS, all four of us.

Jack said it first.

"Holy shit, man. Talk about a corrupted game cartridge."

He popped the Pearl game out of his DS and looked it over, cautious, inspecting it. He turned it over a few times in his palm, but able to find nothing, popped it back into his DS and sighed. "Well, I don't know what the hell's wrong with it. It's going to suck if that's unfixable. I had a lot of one hundreds and shinies on there. Even my shiny Palkia," he said.

Jack's most prized possession, at least, digitally, though I secretly thought that it was his most prized possession, period. He'd gotten incredibly lucky on his first play through, and had caught it as soon as he saw it with a Master Ball.

"Damn, that's lame, man," I said. It was really strange, though. I'd never heard such a harsh sound come from a DS, or any gaming console, or machine for that matter, and honestly, it just didn't seem normal, not to mention that the weirdest part was how loud it had been- I didn't know a DS could go that loud. It sounded like someone had been screaming into a microphone attached to gigantic speakers designed to blast people's ears out.

Matt and Terry offered comparable words of consolation. Jack only nodded, solemn- which, even though it sucked for him, was kind of funny to see over something like Pokemon- and slid his DS back into his long khaki pants pocket.

We chatted a bit more here and there, but we really didn't have any classes together this year- which sucked- and when the bell rang we were split and forced to go our own separate ways. Jack's DS- and the noise it made were in my mind, and I felt that I could still hear my ears ringing as I walked to class.

If only I'd known how much stranger it was going to get from there.

XxXxXxXx

School, as usual, was mostly uneventful, and in general, boring until lunchtime at midday. I'd trudged through my math and science in the early morning with diligence, and now was being rewarded with time with my friends, the only people in this school that seemed fully sane, at least to me.

We waited in line and idly talked about nothing much at all- and then it was time for us to talk about nothing, but at a table. We all sat down, with our trays, and made small but frequent comments, but didn't really start a conversation until everyone had finished eating. I was last, and I took everyone's trays to the garbage can and came back just as an interesting argument was beginning.

"Julie's ass is obviously much better than Maddie's," Matt stated, as if it was a fact. Terry only shook his head, like he was disappointed in Matt's stupidity, and then pointed over at two girls who were standing, facing away from us. I will admit that I had to at least glance at the posteriors in question, but I couldn't really make up my mind as to which was better. I barely heard their argument at all, as my concentration was… elsewhere.

"Just look at Maddie's, though!" Terry shot back. I was looking, Terry, and your girlfriend still has the ass that she did when you and her started going out. Jack and I were the single ones in the group and, as we weren't blinded by bias, we were the tie breakers of the group. They turned to us, expectantly, and then Jack said exactly what I was thinking, voicing my opinion.

"You're both retarded, fighting over whose girlfriend's ass is better. Now, me," he said, gazing in admiration, "I just look and enjoy the view." This then of course caused another argument that because he's their friend, he shouldn't look, and when they continued and carried on with this line of thought, he responded with- and I quote- "If it's there, it's fair."

I had to join in. I couldn't stop myself. It was rare that I got to make jokes at their expense. So I took the opportunity.

"You other brothas can't deny! When a girl walks in with an itty bitty waist and a round thing in your face you get-"

"Fuck you, Daniel." They both said to me, fuming.

Jack and I ended up pounding the table in laughter.

XxXxXx

"See ya, Daniel. See ya Matt, and you too, Jack," Terry called as his mom picked him up from school. Jack's dad would be picking him up soon, and so would Matt's. I had to take the bus, but I still got off early enough- it wasn't one of those school buses with seventy kids and I was the last stop or something.

We were all pretty fortunate that we were all living in the same neighborhood. We usually congregated at Terry's house because he had the most space in his room, and his parents were the most lenient out of all of us. Additionally, he had great food and snacks and his mom, Mrs. Lamba, would even cook us stuff. She was nicer than Mrs. Purc or Mrs. Lazta, Matt's mom and Jack's mom, respectively.

When I got there, there were already sandwiches and snacks and soda put on the table. I gorged myself upon it, as everyone else had. I then went upstairs to Terry's room where everyone else was already playing and chilling out. Terry was on his computer, looking something up. Jack was messing around with his DS, still, apparently, and Matt looked to be reading a text on his phone.

"Hey, man," Jack said, barely noticing me as he messed around with his DS. He turned it on and off again, and then sighed. He started up Emerald instead, ignoring his copy of Pearl that was still lodged inside his DS, and he picked his starter and began his very own Pokémon journey.

"So, did you ever figure out what made your Pearl act like that?" I asked. Everyone in the room answered with negatives.

"No." Matt said.

"Nah, he didn't." Terry added.

"Fuck no. It blows." Jack said, clearly frustrated.

"Whoa, man. What's wrong?" Jack sighed and turned Emerald off. Terry, Matt and I started paying more attention. Jack took a deep breath, and started explaining.

"You guys all remember Susie, right?" Jack mumbled, and we all nodded in response. We'd all been over each other's houses, and his was no exception. He had a little sister named Susie- cute little girl, if I did remember right. Jack nodded, and turned away from us before he continued, more quiet than usual.

"She, uh… a few months back, she fell over, and started throwing up. Me and Mom panicked, right? Just like we should've. After all, we were worried. Well, when we got to the hospital, after some tests, we found out that Susie… uh…" Jack went silent, unable to finish whatever he'd been trying to say.

"She has cancer," he said. It didn't seem like it was a natural sentence- like he'd forced it out of his body. Instantly, the room went silent. Everyone stopped doing what they were doing and turned and stared at Jack. He sighed and set the DS down, turning down the volume of Emerald. The DS sat on the bed, silent and still, just like we were, as Jack spoke.

"She has cancer," Jack repeated, "and it's just… when she got it, my Mom really started fussing over her- and that was the right thing to do, don't get me wrong," Jack said, "but Susie didn't really care for it. She wanted to pretend that it was just like it was before she got sick."

"She had always wanted to play on my Pokemon games, but I'd never let her, 'cause I was scared that she would like delete my legendaries, or something." Jack chuckled, and fiddled with the stylus in his hands. "So fuckin' stupid, man. I let her play my Pearl and she liked it most of all- it was the only thing that she had any fun with anymore."

"She tries to pretend, she tries to hide it," Jack said, putting the stylus down onto the bed and then continued, turning back to us, "but I can tell that she's hurting, inside. Even with the chemo, which is way more expensive than you'd think, the doctor's say that she won't last any more than a couple of years."

"And now she can't even fucking play Pearl because it's bugging out." Jack finished. Matt and Terry were shocked into silence by the bombshell that Jack had just dropped, and I was no exception- baffled by this new information that had been given to us so suddenly.

"Well, maybe we could fix it," I suggested, and was immediately met with glares from Jack, Terry, and Matt. "Hey, don't look at me like that," I said, glaring back. "I'm apparently the only one that's trying to help here, so yeah, fuck me for optimism, right?"

They all glanced over at me, varying levels of guilt visible, before Jack spoke up, handing me the DS.

"Just save Emerald before you try Pearl again," he muttered, and turned away, facing the wall as the rest of his played his DS for him. Within moments, we'd saved the game, and then reset the DS.

I grabbed the stylus off of the bed and waited a moment while the DS restarted. As soon as the screen flickered to life once more, I clicked through the startup screen and then stabbed wildly at the box that said Pokémon Pearl on it. Immediately, we all covered our ears and waited. Nothing happened this time, though. The screen was black and the DS was completely, and utterly, silent.

Then a low-pitched roar exploded out from the machine, and we all reared back in surprise. Pearl didn't start that way- the roar sounded way too real- like it was actually there. I was pretty sure that sound was louder than the DS could even produce. It sounded too real to be a sound in a Pokémon game. It sounded…

Alive. That's what it was, it sounded alive. It was impossible to believe, and I refused to- refused to even recognize or actually respond to the fact that it had made that sound. Even as I rejected it, another two sounds came through the DS speakers. Two low-pitched roars, the same loudness, but a different tune in them. Two different things were roaring.

The screen as still black, but slowly, it lit up. It didn't show anything, though- it was just a bright light that turned the entire screen from black to white. By now, the game had our attention- and everyone was staring at the screen was waited for something to happen next. We were all anxious, and on our toes- and the tension in the room was palpable.

So, I couldn't even really tell you what happened in the next single second that the world seemed to explode.

I can tell you one thing, though: the DS was then knocked out of my hands, and yes, I'd still been holding it, and I lost my grip on- on anything, as I fell. We'd all been sitting on the bed, but now it felt like we were… falling. Falling incredibly fast through the air, even though the most would've fallen, even if the floor in Terry's room had broken through somehow, would've been ten to fifteen feet, maximum.

I couldn't see much- well, couldn't see at all, really, because of the wind that I was being blasted and by bombarded by. It slammed into my eyes and made them water. It was way, way too loud and I couldn't hear anything except the chaos and bedlam of whatever it was that was actually happening, I had no idea what was even going on. The entire situation was too confusing.

Although the roaring wind was incredibly strong, I did manage to force my eyelids open. What I saw amazed me. We were in the middle of some void, filled with moving colors. It was incredibly chaotic, though, and the entire experience barely had any coherency, or anything that could be understood.

Everything was too random and wild; I had to constantly blink my eyes to get rid of watering that wouldn't stop. The wind exploded in my ears, and I figured that it was going to make me go deaf with how fucking loud it was. Looking back, it seemed that I was the last one awake.

Jack, Terry, and Matt, all falling through the colorful void, were all unconscious. They fell limply and their eyes were closed. I saw the DS in front of me. Considering it appeared to be what had started it all, I felt that it was important, and tried to grab it, for safekeeping. Who knew? Maybe if I could touch it, or grab it and turn it off, everything would stop. I was taking a shot in the dark at this point, and was just searching for a way to make whatever was happening stop.

It taunted me, though, moving just far enough away from my hand that I couldn't reach it, even when stretching as much as I could. I could feel the void getting faster, speeding up, and it somehow became even more confusing, and disorienting than it had been to begin with. Spots and shapes danced in my eyes, but before I could pass out, I saw it.

Through all the chaos- the uncontrollable bedlam that I later learned was the void between worlds- I saw two beasts fighting. They were giant- and they looked like gods crashing into each other, shooting beams of light and giant waves of water, all sorts of attacks. Eventually, I could no longer see them- and the window that I'd been viewing them through that had appeared in the void vanished just as quickly as it had appeared.

Darkness washed over me like a wave, and I passed out.

XxXxXxXxXxX

Later, when I awoke, it took some time for my senses to come back to me. Slowly, though, I was made aware of my surroundings. My back hurt, like I'd been sleeping on a hard surface- and I groaned as I got up. My head spun. I stumbled to my feet and barely managed to stay upright. I tried to figure out where the hell I was by observing my surroundings.

I was inside some sparse forestry, with a mountain directly behind me. The trees started to multiply as you looked deeper into the forest, but right on the slope of the mountain, where I was, and around it, the trees became much rarer, completely dying off about halfway up the slope. How the hell did we get from Terry's home to such rough wilderness?

I had no idea, but I really didn't want to think about what was going to happen to me. I wasn't a wimp or anything; I knew how to fight well enough and take care of myself. But I wasn't exactly Bear Grylls, either. I didn't want to think about what was going to happen if I was really, really far out into the wilderness and no one knew where I was. I could, very easily, die.

I turned around and saw a foot sticking out from a tree. What? Was someone else here? I moved slowly, but steadily, still trying to get my full range and speed of movement back. The void had rattled me hard, and I hadn't completely shaken off the effects yet. I spent a few moments stomping forwards, lacking anything that could be considered grace, before turning around the corner of the copse that the body was inside of. A familiar person entered my view, and I couldn't help but to smile.

A groaning Jack was within my field of vision. He looked dirty and a little beaten up- and I probably did too, from falling to the ground like that- dirt, twigs, and leaves stuck to his clothes and his face. I was sure I looked the same way. I wasn't complaining, though. At the very least, we were both alive.

He was waking up, but it would be a little bit. While I was waiting, I went and relieved myself on a nearby tree. There didn't seem to be any nearby wildlife, and I wasn't sure whether that was a good thing or a bad thing. I hadn't yet heard or seen anything, not even bird sounds, and as I zipped up my fly, I pulled apart bushes, looked into the trees, and messed around in these weeds that looked like tall grass- but I didn't find anything. I had just been checking to see if there was anything nearby, but I decided to stop. Knowing my luck, I'd run into a bear and get horribly mauled.

I decided to wake Jack up after that, because I didn't want to be alone in this place anymore. I still didn't understand what those two fighting beasts had been, or what it meant, or how or why I'd even seen the battle in the first place.

It took a minute or two of shaking him, he was really knocked out, and I was worried for a moment that he'd hit his head or something- but no, he woke up soon enough. He did put a hand to his head, though, and rose onto unsteady legs, cursing the entire time. He and I spent some time brushing our clothes and hair off before either of us even uttered a single word to each other.

"Where the hell are we?" Jack asked, voicing my exact thoughts.

"I have no idea," I said, "but it wouldn't hurt to look around, I guess."

He nodded to me, and we looked around a bit more in the sparse mountain clearing we'd landed in. For me, it was basically just a second look around, but I looked anyway. You never know when you're going to spot something you missed the first time.

After a little while, which was really just five minutes, we hadn't found anything, and we met up where we'd both started, and we sat down. He looked over at me and tugged on his collar. He was sweating a little, and there was a distinct, small fear in his eyes.

"We might be kinda fucked," he said. His voice cracked like he was twelve.

"Yeah, I know," I replied. We both got to our feet and I got an idea- one that popped into my brain out of nowhere. It was actually a smart one for once, though- something that could actually help us, an idea that could be used.

"If we go to the top of the mountain, we might be able to see something from far away. It's the best option that we have," I said, pointing to the peak that was far in the distance. It was a small mountain, but it was still fairly tall- it was a mountain, after all. It could take us at least an hour or two to climb it, maybe, if we were slow. I wasn't a good climber, though, and I wasn't sure that Jack was, either. We probably had our work cut out for us.

Luckily for us, the start at least wasn't so jagged and steep, but it looked like it was going to get harder as it went on.

"This'll be hard, but I don't want to walk in a random direction in the forest without knowing where we're going- especially if there's somewhere close we can go," I said. Jack agreed, and together, we started walking up the slope. At first, we didn't need to climb, but it soon got steep enough to where we started grabbing the handholds that we could find, and hanging on to them, climbing slowly.

We'd been climbing for about fifteen or twenty minutes before we met something, there on the mountain. We had just crested over a steep cliff on the mountain, and we looked over the forest. From fairly high up, the forestry was beautiful- all kinds of copses and huge batches of green everywhere. As mostly a city kid, I wasn't used to the scenery, and I took it in.

I saw groups of what I thought were birds and other animals- I was so far away that I couldn't really see anything clearly, though. Shapes were barely visible, much less color or any real detail.

"Damn," Jack breathed, as we sat down on the top of the cliff. I nodded, staying silent. I was breathing just as hard as he was. The top of the mountain still seemed so far away, and we'd already been climbing for a little while. It showed how in shape we were. Still, we were doing this without climbing gear, so I shouldn't be surprised by how far we actually got.

It was only when the pounding of my heart in my ears stopped, and when Jack and I were getting ready to climb the mountain, just a bit higher, that I heard a small sound, constantly repeating. It sounded like something was digging around in the dirt.

I turned around- Jack's gaze following mine- and saw the dirt behind us trembling. What burst forth from the soil looked incredibly strange.

A small, green head popped out of the soil, a large fin-like protuberance coming first, before anything else. Following that, the rest of the thing's body, almost all of it green, dug itself out of the dirt, chewing the entire time before swallowing. It shook itself off before it sat down in the dirt, small, stubby green paws grabbing dirt with greedy, famished intentions, and shoving it in its pink mouth.

This thing was desperate for dirt.

It had fairly large eyes, and small dark triangles under them, as well as dark holes on its body, but they weren't wounds- it looked like it had been born with them. It looked up at us, mouth full of soil, and then turned back to its meal. It didn't look at all threatened by us.

I moved closer, shrugging at Jack, who shrugged back, though his gaze never moved off of the creature. It still didn't move- it was too obsessed with gorging itself on its meal of dirt. I wondered how a creature that small could eat that much- it's not like it was miniscule or something, but still, even if dirt wasn't that filling, by now the small thing had eaten pounds and pounds of it- and it looked like it had no intent of stopping.

I moved close again, and the thing still didn't move, before it looked at me with wide eyes, and a rumbling noise came from its throat- and, when it swallowed, it shouted at me with a shrill cry that was somehow adorable.

"Larv!"

It kept crying at me, multiple times, before it threw itself at my leg. I was nearly bowled over- the thing was incredibly heavy, and dense. It nuzzled into my leg, and I petted it, with a hesitant, but willing hand, as it cried with cheer and hugged my shins.

I didn't notice right away, but Jack's face was growing paler and paler as I nuzzled and petted the cute, affectionate creature back with my hand. It seemed to love the attention, and if it was a cat, it'd probably be purring. It moved away abruptly and then began devouring the soil and the occasional rock again like a glutton. Its skin seemed way too hard for what I was almost sure was a baby. The creature seemed familiar, but I couldn't place the name.

I only recognized it when I saw the red mark on its stomach and small tail on its behind- that looked sort of like a fan. I was almost certain of what it was now, though immediately, once I realized it was, it wasn't the creature that shocked me, it was the implications made by its existence. The cute green rock dinosaur baby continued eating soil, and the name popped into my head.

Larvitar. I was sharing at a real, live, goddamn fucking Larvitar. Needless to say, I was more than a little surprised at the Larvitar- but it already seemed to love me, pressing up against my leg to gain my affection. I couldn't help but wonder why it would do that, especially when it didn't even really know me yet. I guess it was just really trusting.

It was only when I turned back to Jack- and, looking at him, with his colorless, terrified face; I could tell that something was wrong. I heard a noise- like a commanding call. Following the noise, and where his eyes were gazing- locked- I turned around watching as the baby Larvitar ran from my legs and scrambled up the rocky slope of the mountain, nearly tripping more than once, but finally resting and coming to a stop right behind her mother's legs.

A tall, ferocious female Tyranitar stood in front of me- and it looked pissed and mean. Not really the best combination for a human's survival, I might add. As if that wasn't obvious, the large dinosaur mother stood in front of the comparatively tiny Larvitar, and growled at mre and Jack- though it sounded more like a roar.

This is where the division from the games and anime starts- and where I began to discover how much Gamefreak really had gotten wrong. Let's start with how nice Pokemon were supposed to be- wrong, already. The mother Tyranitar looked just about ready to kill me just like any other wild animal, while terrifying, it wasn't what really surprised me. Remember how tall they portrayed some Pokemon as? And even in the games, legendaries like Articuno were only 5'7- yeah, right. That was complete fucking bullshit, I realized, as I stared at the behemoth right in front of me.

The Tyranitar was massive, at the very least, around probably ten and a half feet tall. It probably weighed over a ton. The claws it had on the end of its freakishly long and thick arms looked like they could crash and smash through layers of steel walls with no problems and I believed very intensely in my assumption. It stood balanced on stout, firm legs, and as it raised on of its legs, and roared, I realized just how boned I was.

Almost without effort, the foot came down on the rock.

Boom.

Get fucked.

Jack and I got thrown off our feet by the small quake like we were pencils on a table. We flew several feet in the air and landed hard on our backs- and already, the wind was knocked out of me.

I'd never been in a real Earthquake before, so I never knew the loss of control that came with it. I really, really didn't appreciate the air-time I'd received.

I could barely breathe or even move after landing like that, and after hearing a groan from Jack, I realized that it was most likely the game for him. The mother Tyranitar lumbered towards us, and raised one huge arm, chunks of rocks tearing themselves out of the ground at her will. I wondered which attack it was- Ancient Power or Rockslide- no, probably Rock Slide- the rocks didn't really look special.

It didn't really matter which it attack it used to kill me, so I don't know why I was thinking that right then, probably just as a way to somehow put Pokemon back as a game in my mind, and not as a huge, stomping monster that was ready to bash my brains in with what looked like rocks so large that they could probably be classified as small boulders.

It turned out that in the end it was the Larvitar that saved us- at what it knew would certainly be death, it jumped out from behind her legs and started arguing with her mother in those shrill cries that she had- her mother spoke back in rumbling roars that, even when not directed at me, were terrifying to hear.

I was no good at any kind of charades, especially not Pokemon ones, but I couldn't but laugh at how hilarious the scene looked, a one-foot tall Larvitar arguing with something literally ten times taller than it. The Larvitar waved her stubby little arms around and then pointed to me and Jack. Her mother snorted and turned away, waving one massive paw down. Larvitar had apparently won the fight, though the mother watched her leave with what could be interpreted as sad eyes. The huge mother turned with a roar and slunk back to her cave – a small opening in the mountain that I hadn't noticed until now.

The Larvitar scrambled back down the mountain toward us, and looked up at me, before beginning a series of charades clearly directed at me, and, to an extent, also at Jack. Jack and I only looked on, both confused and amused as the Larvitar tried desperately to make me understand her. Her motions were needy and frantic, and actually pretty good, too.

Over the course of it, she explained what I assumed was the reason that she had reacted so positively to me originally. First, she mimed herself stomping around, most likely her mother, and scaring away all the trainers with her power. Then she puffed out her chest- again, adorable- and mimed stomping around even more fiercely before curling up into a ball. After a few seconds, I thought that I understood.

"That's probably the cutest thing that I've ever seen," Jack commented, and I nodded after watching her go at it for a bit more. The Larvitar then mimed her- at least, what I thought was her father- shaking, as if being captured. Larvitar rocked back and forth on the ground before stopping, and then put on a brave face before leaning down and picking up a rock, and put it on her side, before letting it drop to the ground, and turning to face me.

"Do you get what it's trying to say? I don't understand," Jack said, confused, and I nodded, watching her continue her antics before I responded.

"I think what she was saying was she's never been caught- and it's a she, by the way, because its stomach is red, for female, not blue for male- because her mother scared everyone away." Jack nodded immediately- agreeing with that statement strongly.

"I can sure as hell believe that," he said.

"But what did she say after that?" Jack asked, "After the mom part, I don't really get it."

Now she held the rock to her side and walked a fair distance down the mountain before immediately running back to us. I nodded repeatedly as she approached us.

"What is it? Do you understand it?" Jack asked.

"I mean, I sort of get the idea- I think she meant that someone captured someone she knew. Something about capturing. The rock was a Pokeball, right?"

"Yeah, I think. What I got from that is that she said her father was captured by a strong trainer, and then they went far away and haven't come back since," I said, watching as the Larvitar jumped up and down, cheering as I understood her. She nodded before shifting back into her charades again.

"Then…" I said, watching her point to herself before she lifted a paw to her brow and mimed looking out for… something. She put an expression of interest on her face- raised eyebrows and wide eyes, leaning forward- like… she was on adventure? Something like that.

"You wanted to go an adventure or a journey," I said, half guessing, and watched as she nodded, frantic, before pointing to herself with one stubby arm- and laid down with lazy eyes, and yawned, pointing at the mountain, "because your home is boring?" I said, and I hit the nail on the head, as she nodded and cried her name, in that shrill, cute yell that she had.

"Larvitar!"

Then she pointed to herself and crossed her stubby arms in an X- to show that… that… she couldn't go by herself! And then she pointed to me, and raised her small arms in cheer.

"She couldn't go alone, I guess her mom wouldn't let her- but if she went with a human, a trainer, I imagine, she could go."

A wide smile exploded across my face as I realized what she meant by that. I was going to be her Pokemon Trainer! I grinned down at Larvitar who closed her eyes in delight and butted into my leg, sending me landing on my butt.

I could hardly care, though. I was laughing, in joy and excitement, way too hard. Jack smiled, though he seemed confused.

"What happened, man? I only understood a little bit of what she was saying. You'd be like the world charade champion if that existsed," Jack said. Larvitar got off of my leg and let me up- and I dusted off my pants, before explaining it to Jack.

"Lavitar wants me to be her train-hey!" I shouted, and laughed as she tossed her dirt onto my pants while she dug under the ground. After a few seconds, I understood what she was doing- after thinking about it for moment.

"Larvitar is eating before we go," I said. Jack nodded. I tried to look around for a while, but still I couldn't see where we were- as in, there were no towns around. We were in complete wilderness.

Larvitar popped out of the ground and then burped up a few rocks, which made all of us laugh. Her small, black teeth weren't fangs- they were more flat, made for crushing rocks and soil. Though, I didn't really doubt that she could tear into flesh if she really wanted to. I hadn't seen the original color of her teeth, but assumed that her teeth were black because of the dirt she ate. She plodded along and tugged on my pants leg, clearly eager to begin venturing away from her home. I followed her, and Jack followed me. We formed a three-individual line that trotted down the slopes of the mountain, and began heading in the direction of the forest.

I guessed that this wasn't too out of the way, and that she had a general idea of what way to go- as in, which way civilization was.

It was about a minute of walking before it clicked and I realized it.

"Dude, when she evolves, I'm going to have a Tyranitar," I said- almost as if I hadn't thought of it before. Which was true, I guess. We'd been so concentrated on the entire situation that the shock just hadn't hit us yet. I mentioned this to Jack.

"We might never get home," I said. I turned to Jack and looked at his face. It seemed more than a little shocked, before he turned it into a hardened expression.

"I know," he muttered, and turned away from me. I could tell that he was worrying about Susie. I didn't say a single thing, though. It wasn't my place to speak about that.

A little while later, Jack laughed- and thus would come the ridiculous name.

"I-imagine if-"he couldn't even speak correctly as he started laughing even harder while we walked. Whatever it was, it was apparently so ridiculous to him that it was hilarious.

"What, what if when she evolved into a Tyranitar- she was named Tina?"

He couldn't stop laughing.

I replied just as we were reaching the foot of the mountain and starting to enter the forest. I shook my head and turned my head his way as I spoke.

"That's weird. It doesn't fit. Her name won't be Tin-"

"Larv! Larv!" She cried, and bowled me over as she ran into my legs.

"Do you really want to be named Tina, I mean you could have a cooler name-"

But no, she wouldn't have it, and just kept crying her name over and over while Jack stood nearby and continued to laugh.

And that was how I ended up with a Larvitar called Tina.

XxXxXx

Tina turned out to be surprisingly loyal. Even being the small little thing she was didn't seem to, in any way at all, suppress her thirst for battle or adventure. When a large, menacing Pidgeotto tried to harass us- we walked past an area it was hunting in, and ruined a catch, I guess, because it looked angry- she fought it off fairly easily. She was strong, but had very little common sense- her desire to see the world overrode thinking about anything more than the present. It was both good and bad.

It was positive because I was fairly sure that the same will and desire that I referred to earlier was also a rock-hard determination to win fights. Rattata were slammed into by her body like a train, and I realized early on that it was more than just the typing of two Pokemon decided a battle- for, example, in these low level battles, it was Tina's weight, not her skill, that made her tackle so effective. Heavier than me, and barely a little more than a foot tall.

Yeah, getting hit by something that dense hurts.

What I didn't get, though, was why she was so friendly towards Jack and me- right off the bat. It didn't seem to fit. I could understand that she had a cute and cheerful disposition- but that didn't really equate to instantaneous trust and friendship. Maybe she was just really trusting. One thing I was sure of, though, was not all Pokemon were friendly- the proof lied in the trail of unconscious Pidgey, Rattata, and Pidgeotto that Tina left in her wake.

Her desire for adventure was also negative- as she led us into what I was sure was a Beedrill nest. There were Kakuna everywhere- and fast enough, Jack and I started to back out- with Tina even agreeing to leave, and go another way, as she retreated with us. I'm sure that Jack was having anime flashbacks just like me- and I wasn't sure that the Beedrill would be as harmless as they were in the show.

It was too late to leave, though. Within a few seconds, a loud, ubiquitous buzzing was heard- as if it was the entire universe that was making the noise. The trees were thick and confining; and all too quickly, the branches that we'd walked and stumbled through before, barely hindering us, seemed more like prison bars than anything else as they slowed us down, even marginally, as we tried to get away.

Tina emitted a squeak of surprise- though, not necessarily fear, as I watched her tense and brace herself- as, from every tree within sight, Beedrill descended. They were huge, creepy wasps, with white wings and that looked like they were cracked from all the lines running through them.

A huge lance rested on either arm, probably strong enough to go through something hard but solid- like my body. Their menacing, red eyes gleamed in the darkness, it was getting closer to night, and with the tall trees, it made the light dimmer and the shadows deeper as they blocked out part of the sunlight.

All of this, while threatening and terrifying enough, couldn't possibly compare to the gigantic stinger that hung off of the bottom of their thorax. It was huge, and gray- it almost looked like it was made out of metal, though I knew better. Beads of a gross, violet, sticky liquid dripped off of it like a leaky faucet. Poison, I assumed. Probably deadly.

I announced the safest method of departure that would be the most beneficial to our group of three.

"Fuck! RUN!"

The second that I uttered the words, we all immediately bolted- Jack and I were side by side, with Tina in front of us. It was really strange to see what was basically a rock move so fast, even if it was alive, but I had no time to really focus on that when it was happening. I was too busy trying to not be impaled by the furious Beedrill that were chasing us down, desperate for vengeance- even though we hadn't done anything.

Well, we'd intruded on their nest- but that doesn't really warrant a death sentence, does it?

The buzzing as they chased us was incredibly loud- and it sounded like we were in the middle of an oversized bee hive. We ran, frantic, but as fast as we were somehow managing to go, panic and adrenaline assisting our speed, it was still only enough to just stay ahead of them. They flew way too fast- and it was really was a good thing that they were wild, weak, and untrained Beedrill- because they'd probably be fast enough to catch us, easily, if they'd been actually trained.

The trees got in the way as we ran from them- for both us and them. We were constantly moving out of the way of branches, and they were weaving between them, and following from above as they pursued us. It wasn't like Tina was actually trained, though, and Jack and I weren't Olympic runners. We soon started to tire.

They did not.

We discovered something rather… unfortunate, as we began to grow exhausted: Beedrill are basically superpowered giant killer bees. Which meant that not only do they chase for miles like Africanized honey bees do, but they aim to kill, they do so in large groups, and they're extremely angry while doing so.

Which basically meant that we were, eventually, forced to fight.

Jack and I were panting when we stopped in a thick copse- though Tina didn't seem tired. Damn superpowered animals. They stared at us with those terrible crimson eyes, furious- and several of the group of twenty or thirty then dove for the kill. As they did, I froze up. I had no experience in a life or death fight, and had no idea what to do. It ended up being Jack and Tnia that saved us.

Mostly Tina.

"Daniel!" He shouted at me.

I didn't respond- only gazed at my demise as it drew closer, limbs paralyzed with fear.

He uttered what I thought was a curse under his breath, and took action.

"Tina, tackle!" He commanded, and Tina growled, which, even then, in that situation, sounded adorable- and flung her two hundred pound body into one of the charging Beedrill. What happened was a thing that I expected, but still wasn't ready for, nonetheless. She had always held back for other animals- Rattata, Pidgey- and tried not to hurt them.

Usually, when they'd attacked us, it had been because we'd startled them, got in the way, or interrupted something- even if it was just a Rattata's meal as he nibbled on a nut that had fallen onto the forest floor.

They had no real intent to kill.

The Beedrill did.

This was a battle for our lives. Tina didn't hold back.

Her dense, heavy form tore through the center of the Beedrill's body like it was construction paper. She landed slightly behind and below the swarm, covered in red-green blood and gore. Flesh stuck to her, and she let out an aggressive screech to the rest of the swarm.

The Beedrill she'd slain had its wings severed- she had gone through both the center and the wings, and the two wings fell separately from the Beedrill's body as it crumpled and fell. It squished when it hit the ground, and I wanted to throw up when I saw it. The worst gore pics on the internet couldn't prepare me for the real experience.

Tina plucked a bit of bloody, yellow Beedrill carapace off of her head, and began defending us- crashing through a second and third Beedrill. Only one out of the four that charged at us managed to get close. The rest hesitated- and I saw that, with even a hive mind mentality, Beedrill clearly had some degree of personality- either that, or the ones that charged were much more aggressive and stupid than the ones that didn't.

It only took one Beedrill getting close to screw us over, though.

It managed to nick Jack's leg as it passed- the tiniest cut ever, but it was with the stinger. That was the bad part.

The blood from the slain Beedrill pooled on the ground, and I was still struggling not to retch at the sight, and the smell. The closer corpses nearly made me do so, though. The last weak Beedrill was coming in for a second stabbing attempt- with that giant, leaking stinger. By now, though, Tina was ready.

I had no idea how painful Beedrill poison was, but with the way Jack was gritting his teeth and grasping at the small scratch with his hand, I figured fairly agonizing. As the Beedrill came in for the kill, red eyes blazing and stinger twitching, Tina narrowed her eyes and launched herself, like all the other times before.

Pokemon, as I later learned, have very strong muscles- hell, have very strong everything. Fast reflexes, speed, strength, amazing abilities… it was mind-boggling that humans had even survived and settled in this world- much less had cities or large, thriving populations. At least, I assumed that they did. If not, that sucked.

So, when a two-hundred pound rock launches itself, it's probably going to break through bug carapace.

And it did, for the last time. One more Beedrill fell, dying, profusely bleeding from the gaping hole it had in its thorax. Tina, even when covered in bug guts and blood, looked proud of what she accomplished- essentially, bug genocide. She growled fiercely- or, tried to, rather. The small noises she was able to emit still sounded cute, no matter how deadly and dangerous she actually was.

As the rest of the Beedrill flew away- having been discouraged from so many deaths on their side, even with as angry as they were- I watched the cute little Larvitar growl. As I did, I realized that even with all of their looks, intelligence, and personalities, Pokemon were still wild animals, and they were actually dangerous.

Even when I was being threatened by Tina's mom, it didn't really register in my mind.

After all, she was a Pokemon- she wouldn't hurt me.

Right?

After seeing what Tina had just done, that sort of assumption was already gone and eradicated out of my mind.

I still had no idea how dangerous they were, to what level, at least, but I had started to get the idea after I'd watched Tina brutally murder the Beedrill like that. Four or five corpses decorated the forest growth around us, and the Beedrill, while dead, still twitched a bit as their bodies attempted to resist death.

Tina stood directly beside us, and I'd never been more grateful to have her protection as I tried to pull Jack to his feet. Already, even with what must've been an incredibly small amount of poison, it was working its magic. Jack was unsteady, wobbly, and could barely stand. He leaned on me pretty hard, and I tried to do my best to keep going even with him being, essentially, a hundred and fifty pounds of dead weight.

Here was the worst part, though- we had absolutely no idea where we were going. After that wild Beedrill chase, we had lost the tiny sliver of direction we'd had, and now we were practically wandering, again. Even with Tina being much more careful as to what we stepped into, we'd simply tried to find our way out- but had no such luck, as we walked for hours.

The entire time- or, most of it, only interrupted by the small, easily dealt with Pidgey and Rattata that sometimes challenged us for whatever reason- the forest was silent. The trees were thick and it was, of course, a fucking project to be able to see more than ten or twenty feet ahead of you- terrible light, not to mention it was getting dark, and with all the forest growth that blocked my vision, too.

In short, we basically went nowhere.

Later, we decided to call it quits for the day, though it was probably my exhaustion and Jack's poisoning more than Tina being tired- she only looked mildly winded, even after all the walking we'd done. Jack had slipped in and out of consciousness repeatedly, and that had mre worried. We had no way to treat the poison, so I just let his body fight it- and hoped for the best. Then came the issue of heat and light.

I had tried to make a fire, and failed miserably the first few times before somehow managing a weak, struggling flame that I tended to, religiously- constantly putting new twigs and leaves on it to make sure it kept going and stayed alive.

I was tired- and with Tina keeping watch, I felt safe enough to go to sleep. Jack was already knocked out near the fire, and I tried to dig into the ground to somehow become comfortable, but it wasn't easy. I ended up passing out due to exhaustion.

XxXxXx

"Hey, kid."

Nnggh.

Kick.

Hard, sharp pain in my side.

"Hey, kid, get up."

Ngghhh.

I opened my eyes, and instantly regretted it.

I hissed as the sunlight destroyed my eyes- and shut them tight again, immediately. I hurled myself off of the ground and sat up- already groaning at the rough sleep I'd gotten. My head was pounding, and I could've sworn a rock had now become part of my spinal cord.

I opened my eyes again- and this time, I wasn't instantly assaulted by brightness, though my eyes still hurt. I tried to blink a few times to make the spots leave my vision, but they were stubborn, and stayed. I ran a hand through my greasy, dirty hair, and picked a few leaves and twigs out of it. I turned to the voice that woke me up.

He sort of looked like one of the hikers from the games, except he wasn't black. Which wasn't surprising, it wasn't like only black people went hiking, or something. I had always thought that was weird, anyway. He looked unimpressed with me, which I wasn't surprised about. He had two Pokeballs on his belt- a trainer, too, even if only a casual one, by the looks of it.

He looked like he was in his early twenties, though I couldn't place his exact age. He was a lot older than me, though, for sure. He sighed and pointed to Jack, who was still passed out near the fire. Jack's skin still looked the same, which was good, he hadn't turned purple or something from the poison- but the scratch on Jack's leg had festered. Now a bare scratch had turned into a reddish purple, festering wound. I grimaced at it.

It had clearly gotten worse.

"What happened to him?"

"Beedrill," I replied. At least I didn't have to lie yet. I didn't need people thinking I was crazy by stating that I was from a world where Pokemon were fictional. For now, I'd just have to pretend that I was from this place. I would have to remind Jack to do that, too.

"Do you two not have your shots or something?"

Shots?

"Shots?" I asked. What was he talking about?

"You know, the Pokemon immunizations? They made them universal a few generations back, after too many deaths to Pokemon poisons. Across all regions it's a mandated thing, especially if you're a trainer. Your friend shouldn't even be affected that much by any kind of poison or any kind of toxin a Pokemon can emit. They don't work on Pokemon for a few reasons, mostly because we don't understand their biology enough yet, but for humans, the shots work well enough, as long as you don't get too much poison in you."

"It's not complete immunity, but it's still pretty good," he said.

"So, why is your friend so sick?"

Shit. Fuck. How was I supposed to know they would've had something like this?

Something. Think of something to say quick-

"Our parents could never pay for them, with how expensive they were. Really, it sucks, but that's just how it was in our households, and-"

He narrowed his eyes.

What had I said wrong?

"The immunizations are free," he stated.

Fuck.

Tina eyed him, but didn't make any noise, though before, she'd been growling.

"Well, uh, what I meant to say was that we never ended up getting them because-"

"You're a really bad liar, you know that?" He asked.

I didn't say anything for a moment.

"What actually happened?" He asked.

"None of your business," I replied. I was still pretty sure that I shouldn't tell anyone about where I'd really came from. At least, not for now.

"Fine, fine," he said. He obviously wasn't sated by that, but he accepted it well enough, I guess. He pointed in the direction we'd been going.

"You were headed for the Girk Forest?"

"Uh, no. I'm not really from around here, but I was just looking for the closest town or city that was nearby. Obviously to get my friend treated," I said.

"Well, you're headed in basically the completely wrong way. I was just coming from there. I like to go on hiking trips and see forests and mountains and things like that," he said.

"I could show you towards the nearest town, if you want me to," he said.

Wow. My opinion of the guy completely changed.

"Uh, thanks. Wow. Do you think…?"

"Your friend should be fine. It would've hurt him bad for a few days, but his body would've fought the poison off. I'm pretty experienced in wilderness survival. Let me guess- he barely got scratched by that Beedrill, right?"

"Uh, yeah. How could you tell?"

"Well, one, the wound isn't that big, and two, the coloring isn't that bad yet, either. I've seen a lot worse, sometimes," he said.

"Oh. Cool."

Now that my eyes were adjusting to the harsh dawn light- and my headache was starting to fade- I could make out the hiker a lot easier.

He was in his twenties- like I said before- with a light beard, probably because he'd been in the wilderness and hadn't bothered in bringing anything to shave with. He was a little burly, but not nearly as big as the hikers were in the games. He was maybe six two, six three. He had a huge pack that he probably carried all of his stuff inside of slung over his back. His clothes were mostly an ugly mix of green and brown- obviously for utility, not for fashion, because they seemed to be made out a tough material- nice clothes would get ruined out in a forest like this.

He gave me a hand to grasp- and I did so, and he hauled me up off the ground.

I stood, staggering a bit, and tried to steady myself.

He clapped me on the back, and grinned.

"The name's Hank. What's yours, kid?"

"Uh, Daniel."

"Daniel, eh? What about him over there?"

He pointed towards Jack, who was still completely knocked out, on his side.

"Jack. His name is Jack."

Hank nodded. He jerked a thumb backwards, over his shoulder, referring to Tina.

"What about that Larvitar? Why is it following you? Is it yours?"

"Yes, Tina is mine."

Hank seemed amused by the name- a ghost of a smile appearing, and then vanishing just as quickly. He nodded just as quick.

"How long have you had her?"

"Since afternoon, yesterday, give or take."

"Is she your only Pokemon?"

I nodded, not sure where he was going with this. He nodded again, and looked all of us over again. He glanced at me, and then gave a passing look to both Tina, and Jack, too. Tina didn't take her eyes off of him for a second.

"Yeah, I guess I have to," he said.

"Have to what?" I asked, even though I was suspicious about what he meant.

"Stay with you. One of you is injured, and you only have one Pokemon, that one being extremely rare. You're a robbery waiting to happen," he said.

"Rob me? Of what? They have nothing to take from me." I asked. What was he on about? He shook his head, like he was disappointed in my ability to see the truth.

"Tina. They can take Tina from you. There are criminals in the wilderness, kid. Team Rocket, and the like. They don't exactly play nice, if you catch my drift. They wait for people like you and Jack over there to get screwed over like you have, and they attack when you're weakest. It's been on the rise, lately," he said.

"Oh." I said, feeling dumb. Of course- Pokemon were valuable here because they actually existed, so… Tina was really rare. And that meant that our entire group was a target.

"You're just lucky I was the one to find you, and not someone else, who would've taken Tina while you were asleep and left you alone in the wild," he said.

"Not to mention you didn't even know where you were going, and you don't even have supplies on you, like you already said."

"You aren't from around here, are you, kid?" He asked.

"Not exactly," I sighed.

He nodded again. He sat down, and though it took him a moment due to its gargantuan size, he got the pack off of his body. He rooted around in the pack for a moment before handing me something rough and the color of red-brown. I looked at what was in my hand. I had a few strips of jerky. He took out a few for himself and sat down- he was still a fairly big guy, and let out a grunt as he made himself comfortable.

Hank took out a canteen- presumably filled with water- and passed it to me.

"Thanks," I told him. I downed some water and gave it back, and then spent a few minutes trying to tear into the extremely tough jerky. He seemed used to it, and broke apart the hard food in his teeth like he was a lion or something. I guess you just grew used to the conditions after spending so much time in them. It made sense to me.

It took me a lot longer to eat than it took him, but he waited on me anyway, and by the time I finished, it was late morning. We hadn't really said anything since we'd sat down, and the silence was more than a little tense. I still didn't really know the guy yet, even if he had been really nice so far. Trust came harder than I thought it would.

This didn't seem to phase Hank, and he acted like it was normal.

As I watched him glance at Tina, something came to mind, and I figured I might as well ask him. He probably knew just as much as anyone else would on the subject. And while I was fairly sure about what the answer would be, I wanted to be sure.

"Shouldn't I give Tina some?" I asked.

"You haven't the slightest idea what you're doing, do you?"

"No, not really," I answered. I had no embarrassment or shame in my tone. How was I supposed to know about the eating habits of alien creatures? This was, in no way, a responsibility of mine until really recently, so there was no reason why I would know.

"I was almost sure that all the Larvitar line ate was dirt, but I wasn't completely sure, and I wanted to know," I said. He nodded, and cocked his head behind him- and I was unsurprised to see Tina gorging herself on soil once again.

"You're right about that, kid. She doesn't need anything but the dirt. They need it most when they're Larvitars or Pupitars, but once they grow up into full, adult Tyranitars, they rarely have to eat soil. It's probably once every few months. And even then, they can last years before it starts to become a real problem. They spend the first part of their lives building up a reserve of minerals and energy in their body so large that they can go a very, very long time without eating." I could see the proof. With how much she was eating, I was almost worried that she would choke on the dirt.

"Still, to have them at their best, it's best they eat often," he said.

I nodded, taking in the information, and filing it away for later. It was probably best that I did that, then. I was going to take care of Tina. She'd been nothing but loyal and caring to me so far, and I didn't plan on being anything but loyal and caring back.

"Don't you think we should wake him up?" I asked, pointing towards to Jack. Hank looked at him, and watched him sleep, and I saw his glance flicker to the purplish wound on his leg, more than once. He nodded.

"We should probably get some food in him. It'll help him deal with the toxins."

I grinned, and leaned over, and shook Jack a few times. At first, he resisted, and groaned in his sleep, waving his arms like he was trying to swat an annoying fly. The first two times I tried to wake him, he mostly ignored it, and went back to sleep. The third time, though, he clearly was tired of it, and lifted his head off the ground with a moan.

He looked terrible. His face was sallow, pale, and sweaty. It had clearly taken a lot out of him. He looked dehydrated, if only slightly. I was just glad that the amount of poison that he'd gotten inside him hadn't been worse. What I'd mostly gotten from what Hank had told me was that me and Jack and gotten pretty lucky, and I wasn't feeling up to testing that luck for at least a little while.

He had leaves and twigs in his hair, just like me, and spent a few seconds brushing them out, though he was largely unsuccessful. He glared at me, though said nothing, and turned the glare onto Hank- only, his glare became more judging when he turned to Hank. He didn't say anything for a few moments.

When he did, his voice was a lot hoarser than I expected- even with him poisoned.

"Who the hell is this?" He rasped. Hank shook his head with a grin.

"Morning, sunshine. I'm Hank."

He gave me a glance that couldn't be interpreted as anything but confused.

"Uh, Hank, could you give us a second alone? I need to talk with Jack about something."

Hank's brow squashed down against his eyes. I was pretty sure he could tell that we didn't really trust him. I felt bad for being so paranoid, but I'd rather be safe than sorry. I needed to tell Jack a few things, and for a lot of them, Hank couldn't hear them.

"Sure."

He left his pack there- didn't bother picking it up- and lumbered off. I waited a few seconds after he disappeared into a large copse before turning to Jack and beginning to speak.

"That guy is Hank," I said. "Me and him have been talking while you were asleep."

"I can tell," he deadpanned. I sighed and pinched the bridge of my nose.

"Alright, look," I said, and pointed towards his leg.

"That's not good. Hank woke me up because we basically stopped near a road, and he saw us when he was passing by. He offered to lead us to the closest town. This is a good chance, man. Plus, he didn't even try to take Tina. Isn't that a good sign?"

I saw Jack's eyes flicker to Tina- who was still eating soil while she could. He sighed, and didn't say anything for a second. He tried to get up, and failed, fell down. He hissed and I could tell that a lot of strength had been robbed from him, specifically, his left leg. In the split second he'd been standing, I saw him already leaning heavily on his right leg, and then he'd fallen.

"Might as well, then," he said. He seemed to accept it. I smiled.

Another thing came to mind, even as I was helping Jack get more comfortable. He didn't look happy accepting help, but let me lay him down on his side like he'd been when he was sleeping. I started speaking again, and sat down for a second while I did.

"One more thing. Don't talk about where we're from. We're in the Pokemon world now, for whatever reason. We don't need to get thrown in an asylum for no reason. No one will believe us. So, for now, we should stay quiet about it. That's my say. What do you think?"

He nodded. It looked like he had no objections to that.

"Definitely. I have nothing against that. I just hope we don't run into Beedrill again," he said. I agreed. I saw him shudder for a second, but then he stopped, and he looked around the campsite. I could see him eyeing the jerky and the water. He was probably pretty hungry and thirsty. He jerked his noggin in the direction of the sustenance, and I nodded.

"Yeah, eat up. We're probably going to leave soon."

I got up just as he went to do so, and wandered towards the direction that Hank had gone. I spread apart a few branches and ducked under a few more. After a few seconds of wandering deeper into the forestry, I heard a faint voice calling something, and followed the voice. I changed direction, and went a little more to the west, and soon I came to a clearing. It was probably only a few minutes away from our campsite.

I heard the voice again- this time, closer to it, I could make out what he was saying.

"Flint, hit her with a Tackle!"

"Dude! Geogeo!"

From what I could see, Hank was battling his two Pokemon together. He owned a Geodude and a Sandshrew, apparently- and his Geodude was named Flint. Flint rushed forwards and slammed into Hank's sandshrew- but she didn't seem ready to give up, either. For a moment, she held him back with her paws, though her feet dug hard into the earth and left furrows. Then, exhausted, her defenses fell, and she took a hit right to the jaw.

Ouch. Flint looked happy that he was victorious, but it seemed like this was a normal occurrence- like both of them had been expecting it to happen.

"Hey!" I yelled, calling him. Hank turned to me, and grinned, rubbing the back of his head.

"Oh, hey Daniel. I was just having a mock fight between these two while I waited on you to finish talking with your friend. Are you done?"

I nodded.

"Yeah, we are! Are you coming back?"

"Yeah, I will. Give me a minute or two, and I'll be back over there."

"Alright!" I yelled, and began walking back to our campsite. It only took me a few minutes, just like finding Hank had, and when I returned to the campsite, I came back just in time to see Jack stumbling to his feet. He looked like he was going to fall for a second, but steadied himself, and managed to stay standing.

"Nice, man," I said. He seemed pretty appreciative of my approval, and returned it with a small smile. It seemed to hurt him a bit to walk, but that was expected, honestly. He set out for a pack of trees opposite to the direction that I'd just come from.

"Wait, where are you going?" I called after him. Just right before he disappeared into the pack of trees, he yelled back to me.

"Bathroom!" He said, and then slipped in between the trees.

"Oh," I said to myself. I turned my head and looked to Tina. She looked like she was done eating dirt, but she'd dug several huge holes right next to the campsite in the process. The fire had died off by now, and the ashes were scattered across the fire pit that I had barely managed to create. Tina laid inside one of the holes, and took one pawful of dirt, before looking at it, and tossing to the side of her. She burped.

I went over to her while I was waiting on Hank and Jack to get back, and petted her on her head- and she nuzzled into my head. Her skin was rocky and rough, but it never cut me. She seemed to really like it when I rubbed her little black pock marks in her body. She rolled over like a dog, though she didn't pant.

Tina needed a lot of attention. Even if she was a badass, she still was a baby Pokemon, mostly, and I'm guessing that her mom had done something similar to this. Jack stumbled back into the campsite a few moments later. He looked like he was in pain. He let out a grunt when he sat down- and I saw a bit of blood coming out of the wound on his leg.

"Are you alright?" I asked. I was a little concerned. While Hank said that Jack would be fine, I also knew that he was assuming that Jack wouldn't exacerbate his own injuries. If it started really letting out a lot of blood, I had no idea what would happen, then.

I didn't like not knowing.

He risked one glance down towards his leg and sucked his teeth, and didn't say anything for a moment. When he did, though, I was surprised to hear that much anger in his voice.

"I'm not glass, man. I don't break so easy," he said.

"I'll be fine. Stop worrying so much about me."

"Ok, ok," I said. Where had that come from?

"Hank said that you'd be fine, anyway. I probably am overreacting. It's just… we almost really did die yesterday, right? It's really hard to shake that feeling."

"What feeling?" He said, even though I knew he knew what I was talking about.

"You know what I'm talking about. That weird feeling. I felt like puking yesterday. Really, it's just fear. I'm still having trouble getting over it."

"You think you're having trouble getting over it? When I passed out, I didn't think I was ever going to wake up. I thought I was just going to die to the poison overnight. When you guys woke me up this morning, I was surprised that I was even still alive. My leg had really started hurting before I went to sleep."

"Yeah, he said the reason why you're not hurt worse is because you got so little poison in you. If you had gotten more, you'd be a lot worse, I think."

Jack nodded.

"Makes sense, I guess."

He pointed at Tina, who only looked back at him with just as much curiosity. She chewed on her paw and sucked some dirt off of it, but didn't move otherwise.

"How has she been?"

"Just as damn cheery as yesterday," I said, laughing a bit. Jack chuckled too, but didn't say anything else. He shuffled a bit and made himself more comfortable. We were really just waiting on Hank to come back, now.

A few moments later, he did. He strode back into the campsite with all the grace of a rhino, and reached for his pack, took the jerky, and the water, after asking if we were done with it, and packing it all up. I got a glance inside of his bag, and saw that he had a bunch identical little food packages- jerky, I thought I saw some dried fruit, not to mention six or seven canteens, too, that he probably refilled every few days. Folded up clothes, too.

That reminded me of my own clothes. I glanced down at myself, and sighed. Jack was no different. Our clothes had tiny little holes, and were already extremely worn. Little dirt smears were all over my shirt, as well as some green in places that green didn't belong. Sleeping on the forest floor hadn't been the best for our attire. Jack's clothes looked similar.

I gave one last glance to the fire pit as we walked away from it- and started following a rough, but clear, path through the forest. Hank walked in front of us, leading the path, and Jack leaned most of his weight on my shoulder, which I bore well enough. It was slow going, and rough walking, but we made mostly good time. We'd left late in the morning, and all too soon, noon crept up on us faster than we'd thought possible.

At noon, Hank made Jack stop. It was clear that he was forcing himself to go on, even then, and he reluctantly sat himself down. Hank and I sat down, and Tina sat next to my leg and immediately dug her paw into the ground, ripping past the grass, and started eating dirt, at a slow pace.

"Why are we stopping?" Jack asked. I could hear the frustration in his voice.

"You know why," Hank said.

"No, I don't," Jack growled.

"You're injured. Don't push yourself beyond your limits."

"I'm not pushing myself beyond my limits," Jack said. "I could keep going fine. You're the one that wanted to stop."

Hank didn't say anything to that, but I could tell that he resented the backtalk, at least a little bit. Especially because he was helping us. Regardless, though, it was clear that he had at least a little bit of patience in him, because he just bit his tongue and didn't bother speaking.

I just tried to break it up.

"Hey, guys- can we just…?" I let the question hang in the air.

Jack frowned, but didn't comment after that, either, and we just ate and rested for a little while. The noon seemed to stretch on longer than I'd thought it possible, but as it went on, Jack's breathing became less labored, we all rested, and we ate our fill. After maybe half an hour- really, closer to forty five minutes- we were ready to go on again.

Almost the entire time, Tina had been eating soil. She took care to eat away from the rest of us, so she didn't fling dirt all over our food, but still.

God. Damn.

I knew she was going to eat a lot of dirt- hell, I'd already seen her do it plenty of times. But that was the first time that I realized just how much she did it, and it also made me wonder for how long she was going to do it. How much dirt would she have to eat before she was ready to transform into a Pupitar? I wasn't sure. I had already considering consulting a Tyranitar expert when I finally reached whatever town that Hank was taking us to.

She finished right before we decided we were ready to move, though, and we packed up and continued. We made good time- or so Hank said, saying that we were getting close to the town. I couldn't see it yet, but I assumed that by the end of tomorrow, we'd be either close enough to see it with our own eyes, or we'd just be there.

While we were walking, we finally started seeing other Pokemon.

It was probably around then that reality set in.

Even though we'd seen plenty of species by now, to help us confirm the fact that, yes, you are actually in the Pokemon world- it didn't really set in until we started seeing the massive herd of Stantler, and the giant Pidgey flocks, dominated at the front by Pidgeottos and Pidgeots. Things like this. They were just like bird flocks and deer herds back home.

It was once we started seeing Pokemon in big amounts that we really started taking everything to heart. We had to work really hard to keep the looks of wonder off our faces- because, even though Hank knew we weren't from around here, he still assumed we were from the Pokemon world. And, again, those were beans that I and Jack were nowhere near ready to spill. No way, no how. Our lips were sealed.

On that topic, as far as Jack and I were concerned, those beans would be staying inside of the bean jar, inside a box, inside a factory. And they would NOT be spilled.

We saw more wild Rattata searching around on the ground, for food. We saw Noctowl, and their babies, Hoothoot, when it got closer to nighttime. We also saw a variety of bug Pokemon when we were traveling through the forest- though the Weedle we well avoided for obvious reasons, and the Butterfree seemed mostly friendly, as you might've expected.

One thing that I didn't expect, though, was how real everything looked.

Before, we'd only viewed Pokemon in either the game, or the show. Both of which depicted them as cute, harmless animals. Cartoonish, anime style.

This was real life, and that was not how it was.

They weren't terrifying, but they were realistic.

I'm not that scared of bugs, so a Caterpie didn't bother me. But I can understand why it bothered Misty, because it did look just like you'd expect a giant caterpillar to look.

Still, though, I grew used to it.

We stopped early, again, maybe around seven or eight, but we needed the extra time to set up camp, and also just to allow Jack to rest. I could tell that he still didn't like it- but it really wasn't his decision, in the long run. His leg prevented him from doing any sort of hard labor, and as such, his tasks mostly boiled down to tending to the fire, which was right where he planted himself, and helping Hank cook.

Hank was cooking a stew- he had a mix of vegetables that he carried with him, as well as some dried meat. He also carried seasoning on him, too- which was good. It meant that we could have a good, delicious meal, even this far out in the wilderness. Jack helped him tend to it, but it was mostly Hank cooking it. I was starting to believe that he could pull a damn bank out of that pack, because of all the stuff it held.

And again, when the stew was ready- simmering, slow cooked for a few hours, and it was getting late into the night, he weakened the fire a bit by letting it use up some of fuel, and not replenishing it, he pulled bowls and spoons out of his pack. He filled each with an even amount of stew. We had to wait a bit before we could eat it, because it was so hot at first.

But when we were able, it was a delicious dish. And while we ate, we spoke, briefly.

"So, what's your plan once you get to town?" Hank asked.

Jack's mouth was full, so, as I swallowed, it fell to me to answer. I coughed and beat on my chest for a few moments as the stew went down my throat the wrong way. Hank looked at me in surprise, and I gulped in air like I'd just jumped out a pool and I'd been holding my breath for far too long. Once I could actually talk, I answered.

"I-I'm not really sure. We'll figure out when we get there."

Hank seemed satisfied by this, and he simply shrugged and continued eating, spooning large portions of the stew into his mouth. He ate faster than either of us and had several bowls- meanwhile, Jack and I only had two. It was near midnight when we decided to go to bed. Hank mostly snuffed out the fire and left smoldering embers where a roaring flame had been before. Hank obviously was used to sleeping in the wilderness, and fell asleep almost instantly- as soon as he curled up in his sleeping bag.

He'd given us a sleeping bag too, each of us, and we stared at the stars as we tried to sleep. We were city boys, though, and rest didn't come as easily as we would've liked it to.

In the end, Jack broke the silence first. He turned to me- and I could mostly make out the troubled look that his face held, even through the darkness.

"What are we going to do when we get to town?" He asked.

Like I'd been lying to Hank, or something.

"What I told Hank. I don't know yet. We'll figure it out when we get there."

Jack frowned.

"What, do you have any ideas?"

He shook his head.

"Alright then. Don't worry," I told him. "Everything will work out fine."

He turned over without saying anything and tried to bury himself inside his sleeping bag. I didn't know whether he was mad or not, but I thought that he was taking it too seriously. It was obviously a serious situation, but…

I just knew that everything would turn out alright.

But I couldn't help but wonder, as I tried to fall asleep, whether that was what I really believed, or just overly optimistic hope, with no reason behind it.

I turned and watched Tina in her self-dug hole. Every time we went to sleep, she'd eat a few tons of dirt- at least, it looked like tons- and bury herself deep inside the ground. She'd sleep there, and then dig herself out in the morning when we were all ready to leave. It was another thing that was really cute. It was also sort of interesting to see, too- watching Pokemon behavior up close like that. I felt like the Jane Goodall of the Pokemon world.

Of course, I wasn't. I guess that would be Birch, right?

That was something that I wasn't sure about yet, either. I'd been thinking about it more lately, though. Was it possible that people like Oak and Misty and Birch were inside this world? Were the characters from the show here, or the game, or both, or a mix of both? It was a question that I'd not only been thinking about more lately, it had started bothering me more and more. Because it was almost too weird to imagine it.

The more I thought about it, the more creepy and strange it became. It was entirely possible that in some strange dimension or other reality that Pokemon could be real. But fictional characters in the world being real here? It was somehow different, and a lot scarier, to boot. I guess I would see eventually.

I kept thinking about it late into the night, but eventually knocked out.

XxXxXxXx

We woke up again the next day, and started going as hard as we could, right away. Jack and I both wanted to be out the wilderness, and also, we wanted to see the town, so it was curiosity pushing us, also. Hank seemed to be able to keep whatever pace Jack set- but he was starting to shape up. His leg looked a lot better than it did before.

In just a few days, it had healed nicely. The reddish purple tint was much less pronounced, and just looked a lot less angry, in general. There had also been a bit of swelling, too, but that had faded in time as well. It had faded to the point where you could see the original, tiny cut that had caused the whole thing. I was thinking that maybe two days from now, it'd be gone completely, and the worse he'd have would be a small scar on his leg.

It was maybe midday when we crested a hill and saw buildings in the very, very far distance. Jack and I started whooping and hollering the second we saw it.

"Hell yeah!" I clapped my hands together, hard.

"That's what I'm talking about!" Jack said.

We were just both really excited for it.

Hank smiled, and he looked happy for us. The sight spurred Jack on even more, and we made really great time, racing through the rest of the forest and nearing the town by late afternoon, after we'd taken a lunch break.

It was only a mile or two away, now, and we took our time, walking at a slow pace. We were probably going to reach it by sunset. Tensions between Jack and Hank had eased a bit. I think everyone was just relieved to be almost out of the wild.

Tina seemed really energetic, and practically skipped along beside us as we journeyed into town. It was a small town- not necessarily tiny, as there were a fair number of buildings, and it was clear that a large number of people lived here- perhaps a few thousand- but not necessarily some gigantic city or a metropolis, either.

As we strode into town, strangely, we didn't garner any odd looks. We were dirty, with leaves and twigs stuck all over our clothes. We'd done our best to wipe off dirt and smears, but it wasn't perfect, and we were still pretty filthy. But we didn't really seem to get a bad look from anyone- rather, it seemed all the attention was on Tina.

After thinking about it for only a second or two, I realized that since training was a normal thing in this world- or, at least I assumed that it was, based on what I knew from both the anime and the games- it wasn't anything new to have a few people stumble into town, looking disheveled, and a little worse for the wear. A Larvitar was much rarer, and a lot more interesting, than a few dirty people wandering into town. It probably happened every day.

People watched as the little dinosaur Pokemon waddled beside me. She seemed content no matter what- and was already presumably enjoying her decision to go with me as her trainer. She'd been having fun so far- she'd been getting into small fights as we'd traversed the forestry, all the way up until we'd reached the city.

There weren't really a challenge for her, though- and it wasn't really as much of a fight as it was a stomp. A horrible, horrible stomp.

All the Rattatas and Pidgey were simply tackled aside.

Tina gazed in wonder at the town as we strode inside. I couldn't pick her up and put her on my shoulders like Ash would with Pikachu, though- she was over two hundred pounds, even in her baby state. She'd break my neck, easy. She seemed amazed by the tall buildings, the amount of people there were- and even the other Pokemon in the city- ones that she'd never even seen before.

There was some trainer with what I was pretty sure was a Typhlosion walking past- and it glanced at me, and snorted smoke from its nostrils as it followed its master. I don't know whether it was laughing at me, or just unimpressed. I glared at its back as it turned away and its trainer and the Pokemon disappeared around a corner.

I made sure to keep Tina really close. Hank's words about criminals and thieving echoed in my mind. Tina didn't seem to care, though- almost like she liked the extra attention as she stayed almost attached to my leg, walking right beside me.

I was also fairly sure that nothing would happen though, because we were surrounded by other trainers, in the middle of a city, in basically broad daylight. No one was going to try anything. We walked for a few blocks- and while we did, we saw a society that was completely intertwined with Pokemon. It was a thing here. It was normal.

Hell, it was even popular, to an extent. I could only imagine how popular champions were around here. Probably like the President is, back home- or any other sort of famous leader- The Queen, or a Prime Minister, or whatever.

It took a little while, but eventually, I figured out where we were going. I was almost certain of it, but it was only confirmed when I saw it with my own eyes.

It was massive.

The Pokemon Center.

It was taller and thicker than I expected. It was at least a few floors high. Probably because of how huge Pokemon could be- I wouldn't be surprised if they had special systems for different types of Pokemon, whenever there was a requirement for special care. I remembered scenes from the anime depicting that, so it made sense.

We walked to the front- and the doors automatically opened, just like modern day grocery store doors did. We strode inside and, while it was probably nothing new to Hank, Jack and I took everything in. The high roof- probably at least twenty feet tall. The wide, spacious entry room, with all kinds of couches, chairs, and PC's. And even other trainers, that were waiting on their Pokemon's recovery, or sitting around, chatting with each other, or eating.

It was a little much to take in all at once- and while Jack was apparently better at hiding his emotions, I knew that I was staring, even gawking. I managed to tear my eyes away, and tried to act a little more aloof.

Some trainer with a Fearow walked right past us- and the bird was massive, nearly doubling my height, with brown feathers and white at the tips of them, a huge, pink beak, a majestic crest, and a wingspan that'd probably make an ornithologist orgasm. The Fearow's cocky smile was matched by the trainer as they strode out of the Pokemon Center with an arrogant swagger. The other trainers inside had smaller, weaker Pokemon- he was clearly more experienced, and whoever the guy was, he knew it, too.

We reached the front desk, and I got what I expected- a Nurse Joy. On the back of the wall, behind the front desk, hundreds of pictures of women that looked very similar lined the entire wall. They all had fair skin and red-orange hair. I wondered what the explanation for it was. This wasn't the anime- and no woman could birth thirty identical kids at once.

I reminded myself to ask her later.

The Nurse Joy- almost just like she looked in the anime, except in real life, and with a uniform that looked a lot more like a real nurse's-received us as we reached the front desk.

"Hello. Are you looking for a room?"

I nodded.

"Yes, please."

"Very well, can I just see your trainer's license, please?"

I froze.

FUCK.

I couldn't see my own face, but I was fairly sure that I looked terrified- like I'd been caught red-handed. Jack looked similar. Hank waited a moment, but after he realized we weren't going to give her one, he narrowed his eyes and looked at both of us, before he interjected something, and practically dragged us away from the spot.

"We'll be right back," he said, giving the woman a smile.

I had a feeling that the smile was false.

Tina seemed content to allow the dragging to happen. She waddled along and followed us outside. She looked to still be sucking one of her paws clean of dirt.

The second we were outside the Center- and behind the left wall of it, what looked like out of earshot for anyone passing by, Hank asked the question.

"Are you guys actually thieves? Or what? Because you should have a trainer card. Hell, everyone I know has a trainer card! Even if theirs is expired, people usually keep it because it reminds them of good times. You know, when they first tried their hand at training?"

We stayed silent.

"You aren't thieves, are you?"

There was a dangerous lining to the tone in his voice- like we'd made a grave mistake.

"No. We're not!" I said. I was desperate. He was one of the only people I knew here, and I liked Hank. I didn't want him to hate me. It sounded like he had something against thieves- had said it more than once. Besides the fact that he had helped us a lot, and was basically our lifeline in this place.

"Then tell me. From the beginning, you both have been hiding something. And I intend to hear the truth, now. So tell me. Now."

I sighed- and then glanced at Jack, who shrugged, with a frown.

He looked defeated. It didn't seem like there was a way out of this.

"You wouldn't believe us."

"Try me," Hank said.

So I tried him.

I told him everything- in detail. About what had happened the day we'd been transported here, what had happened when we were teleported, how I'd met Tina, and everything. It took several minutes of desperate, quick explanation that left me nearly breathless at the end. Hank eyed both of us.

"I told you, the story's ridiculous," I said. "But it really is the truth, and-"

"Oh, I believe you. Mostly. It doesn't sound like there's much reason for you to lie."

I froze up for the second time that day. Jack seemed surprised by Hank's response, too.

"But I don't like some of it. This entire world, being a game, for kids? A TV show, too? Man. That's just something else," he said.

"Alright, if you're telling the truth, I want you to name the current champions of all the regions- or, at least, the ones you know about. This should be a decent test- though anyone could know this from a history class."

"Lance is champion of both Johto and Kanto. As far as I know, either Steven or Wallace is champion of Hoenn. Cynthia is champion of Sinnoh. For Unova, it's either Iris, or Alder," I said.

"I… didn't expect that," he admitted.

"Those aren't the current champions. Lance was the tenth champion of Kanto, and Johto- and the longest reigning, around two hundred years ago. Steven and Wallace were a little past his time. Cynthia is more recent- a hundred years back. Iris and Alder are both dead, too, but Iris passed three years back. The entire world mourned - Unova, the hardest."

"Wow," I said.

"Yeah, wow. There's no way that any kid in this world- no matter what- would not know the champions, or champion history. It's too ingrained in our culture," he said.

"I believe you."

Once again, Hank's kindness surprised me- though I was really starting to appreciate what he'd given us, and how caring he was being.

"Uh, thanks," I said.

"But, uh… what now?"

"I can't own Tina without a license, right? How do I get one?"

"They're pretty easy to get," Hank said. "It really isn't that hard. I know for a fact that every Pokemon Center has a license distribution machine, with a simple test that you have to take in order to get it. You used to have to apply, but they just made it harder for stealing and abuse to take place by cracking down. That way, it's faster to get your license, but they don't have to worry about Pokemon thieves and Pokemon abusers quite as much. It still happens, but…" he shrugged, "what are you gonna do?"

"We should take the test, then- right?" I asked.

"Uh, yes. If you want to keep Tina, you do."

"Good that we're already here, then. C'mon, Jack. Let's get this done."

He nodded- and we both grinned.

We walked back inside and talked to the Nurse Joy- who seemed surprised, but not unwilling to help us with the test.

It was some sort of multiple choice thing on the computer- and the computers acted the exact same way they did at home, except that right click was on the left, and left click was on the right. It really irked me and pissed me off, but I got used to it soon enough.

It really reminded me of state mandatory tests we used to take in school, but luckily, these were a lot easier than those were. There were a variety of questions about Pokemon, care, logic, and just basic planning that anyone would have to know to both raise animals and go adventuring into the wilderness.

A lot of it was common sense, like asking how much you'd pack.

Others were much more interesting- and required a lot more thought.

I read the question aloud to myself- almost in disbelief- as I considered it.

"You only have your fire starter available. You're out in the first forest that you came across, searching for an easy catch to bolster your team and help you look for other Pokemon. You come across a strong Pinsir. While the type advantage is in your favor, it looks old, mean, and like it's been in this situation before. What do you do?"

A. Attempt to catch the Pinsir.

B. Retreat.

C. Go around it, and keep searching.

D. Defeat the Pinsir.

And here I was thinking Pokemon training would be easy. I wasn't sure what to do. A strong Pinsir would probably be good, but I was weaker right? If I couldn't catch it, I couldn't beat it, for sure. If it was mean, then I probably couldn't go around it, either. The only real option was B.

I chose B.

There were a few more questions, and then the test ended.

The entire time, Tina had waited, impatiently, near Jack and Hank, who stood not far off to the side. She could somehow tell that this test was important.

The second it ended, she ran right back over to my leg.

Nurse Joy printed out my score- and looked over the answers.

"You're the first one I've had choose the retreat option in a while," she admitted.

"A lot of kids are in over their heads when they go training."

It didn't really surprise me. It made sense that that would happen.

"Alright, this looks good enough. How about you stand right over there?"

She led me to a white wall, and lined me up- and got behind a camera that was connected to the Center's main computer, the one she worked on.

"Say Charizard!"

"Charizard?" I asked, confused, though I kept my grin up.

A bright white flash exploded in my eyes- and I was rubbing them, but she was already printing out a little card with my grinning face on it- along with a bunch of other details.

I learned that my trainer account was the thing that stored all the Pokemon I owned- and it was connected to the license. Once you caught one, you had to record it as soon as you got to the nearest Pokemon Center. Otherwise, you were breaking the rules and they could seize the extra Pokemon that you caught, but weren't registered. It didn't count them as being owned by anyone, technically. They then became League Pokemon.

Nurse Joy told me about all of this really quickly- she seemed a master at explanation.

Then Jack took the test, and we repeated the process.

Once we both had our licenses, we smiled at Hank, who grinned back.

"Don't I need to capture Tina in a Pokeball to register her on my trainer account?" I asked. Nurse Joy nodded, though she provided no such Pokeball. Hank sighed, looked at me, set down his pack, and rummaged around with it for a minute before producing a functional, but scratched, Pokeballl. It was red on the top, and white on the bottom- really plain. There was really nothing special about it, at all.

Still, it was a Pokeball, and I grabbed at it, and practically snatched it out of Hank's hand.

I got on my knees and tapped the little button in the middle- made it grow a bit larger. I looked at it, and then looked at Tina- who didn't move. I put it on the ground near her.

"Tina, do you want to be Pokemon?"

She nodded.

"Larv!"

With trembling fingers, I picked up the Pokeball, and pressed it against her head. It opened up- and a red, shining beam of light shot out from within the ball and drew her inside. Once she was inside, I held it in my hands as it rocked back and forth- until it grew still.

I looked it at like it was the biggest diamond in the world.

"Aren't you going to do it?" Jack asked. He had a grin on his face.

I understood what he was going on about.

"No," I said, laughing.

"Do it!" He insisted. We were both struggling not to crack up.

Hank and Nurse Joy looked confused.

"Fine, fine," I said, agreeing. I kept snickering, even as I started to do it.

I raised it high above my head in one arm- and stuck the other fist out, with a V for victory sign. In a triumphant tone, I shouted.

"I caught a Larvitar!"

Jack couldn't help it anymore. He started cracking up and fell on the floor, pounding it with one fist and holding his side with the other. He howled like a baboon.

Everyone else in the room stared at me like I was the biggest idiot in the entire world.

I laughed nervously and tried to play it off, but I still felt embarrassed. Still, the moment was too funny and joyous and memorable for it to really bother me.

XxXxXxXx

Later, after we'd all booked a room- because rooms here were free, as was food and care, and everything else- Hank had to ask.

"What the hell was that 'I caught a Larvitar thing about'?"

He smiled when he said it, though.

Jack snickered.

"Just something from the TV show," I said.

"Oh, ok," he said. "I guess that makes sense."

We went to sleep- despite all the good emotion in the air, and the relief and lack of tension, if anything that only revealed our exhaustion that was lying underneath.

Hank still hadn't asked about Terry or Matt, though we'd told him about them.

I didn't really know what to think about that. I suspected that he still thought our story was false, but maybe he just didn't want to pry. He did say that he believed us, after all.

After Hank fell asleep like a rock, Jack and I chatted in the darkness. He'd had his leg fully healed by Nurse Joy, which was really just her giving him a small dose of antibiotics- and there was really only an ugly scar there, now. And it wasn't even that big, either, which was good.

I was still thumbing my one Pokeball, which lay right next to me on a nightstand next to our beds. I still couldn't believe it, that I owned a Larvitar.

"So, what now?" He asked.

"I don't know." I said.

"What about Terry and Matt? Where are they? They weren't where we ended up."

"I don't know. They… they have to be somewhere else," I said.

They just had to be.

Jack looked at me- and nodded to me, before turning over, and going to sleep.

It took me a while to fall asleep, but while I was doing so, I could only think about Terry and Matt. They had to be out there. They just had to.

Because I didn't want to think about what it meant if they weren't.

XxXxXxX

** And that's the first chapter of CrossWorld! Review, please.**

** Any questions, ask them in review or PM, and I'll try to answer them.**

** I AM interested in Betas. PM me about that, too. There's bound to be errors in here. And this story is going to probably be pretty long, so yeah. You need to be fast, though. I can't be waiting on like a week for someone to email me my finished chapter back.**

** Not much to say on the first chapter, really. I'd always wanted to write a Pokemon fanfic, and, well… here ya go. It originally came about as the idea of what a really cheerful Tyranitar would be like… and, well. Yeah. This is it.**

** It's around… 11:15, now. I have to go watch my Sopranos, now. It's so good. Anyone that hasn't watched that yet, I strongly urge you to pick it up. I only started watching it recently, but oh man. It really is amazing.**

** Anyway, I guess that's about it.**

** See you all next chapter.**


	3. Chapter 2

I woke up early in the morning.

Hank and Jack were still sleeping. He'd always been awake before me, but I had to pee, and my bladder had woke me up. As I staggered toward the bathroom in the darkness of the Pokemon Center room, I heard him snore. Man, he was a like a bear, or something- or a truck, or a car. He snored louder than anyone I'd ever heard before. I wondered how he didn't wake us up with that when we'd been out in the wilderness.

I used the bathroom, washed my hands, and got out. I still had only one pair of clothes, and even though we'd cleaned them up a bit when we'd got in the room last night, it didn't change the wear and tear that the clothes had from the deep wilderness we'd been in. Smaller holes that were near each other had torn even more and I had several large holes ripped into my shirt, now. I was amazed that the shirt was still even wearable, because I was basically wearing rags. Rags that clung to me, but still, rags.

I looked towards the nightstand where I'd placed my one and only Pokeball. I smiled at the contraption that sat, motionless. Tina was in there. She was probably hungry. I reached over and grabbed it, and let it sit in my palm, and I stared at it for a minute before pressing the button in the middle, miniaturizing it, and pocketing the ball. After I'd taken a minute or two more to wake up, I stretched, and left my room, making sure to be quiet. It was still really early in the morning, and I didn't want to wake anyone up.

It took me a minute to reach the end of the hall, and then walk down the stairs, a few floors down, because we were at the top floor, and then I was in the main room of the center again. It was probably six or seven in the morning, still fairly early, and there weren't many trainers in the main room. The Nurse Joy was a different one, still red haired and fair skinned, but she looked a lot more energized. She had probably just relieved the other of her shift.

I nodded my head to her, and a few other trainers as I went outside and walked into the town. I didn't really know what to do, but I wanted to have Tina eat. I knew that it was a good chance to keep her growing. I didn't want to have her growth go stagnant because I wasn't letting her eat enough dirt. I walked outside of the town, and maybe half a mile into the wilderness. I reached into my pocket, grabbed the ball, and tossed it on the ground.

It did bounce back up just like in the anime- though I had no idea how they exactly designed it so that it would do that- but it did, and I managed to catch it, though not without staggering and fumbling for it a bit. It came up off the ground a lot faster than I would've imagined it would. Eh. Practice makes perfect, I guess. I figured I'd get better at catching it.

The red beam shot out, and quickly formed into Tina. It was really weird how it worked.

First, the beam struck a surface- the ground, or a wall, because I saw some kid release his Caterpie onto one, and it immediately clung to the surface- and then it formed the basic shape of the Pokemon.

Once that was done, the red tinged light started changing colors- some of the red became green, and some it black, for the pock marks on her body, and some of it only changed a tinge, for the red mark on her belly. More changes to color and slight form and shape changes occurred before they were fully released. It only took about two seconds in all.

"Larvitar!" She cheered, as soon as she was released. She turned, and as soon as she laid eyes on me, charged at me, and slammed into my shin, bowling me over. I huffed, wheezed, and hit the ground, though I couldn't help but laugh as she hugged my shins. She was so cute.

I grinned as I rubbed her head, and once she pulled away from me, I gestured to the dirt all around us. She cocked her head, and then nodded with a loud cry before diving onto the soil and devouring it whole. She looked like a drill, powering her way through the soil so fast. It was only a few seconds before I could no longer see her- and looking into the hole she'd made, with how far down it went, I got an idea of just how hungry she actually was.

Tina ate for a little while, probably ten or fifteen, maybe even twenty minutes, and I took the time to just lay my head against a tree and rest. I had my Pokeball in my hand. Somehow, at some point, I nodded off- probably because I'd gotten up so early. She woke me up again when she bowled into my side, and nearly sent me flying. I groaned when I got up. She'd left the side of my shirt even filthier- considering she was covered in dirt, it wasn't surprising.

Tina looked crazy. Covered nearly head to toe in dirt, she then spent a few minutes licking dirt off of her, and even though she was semi-successful, she still left a lot on herself. There were random, dark patches of soil clinging to her body that flaked off at any moment as she walked around. It was almost hard to distinguish the dirt from the actual black pock marks in her body. Tina was lying on her back and sucking on her paw when it happened.

"I challenge you!" I heard a voice cry.

What?

"Didn't you hear me? I challenge you!" The voice declared again. It sounded like it was behind me, so I turned around, Tina turning with me. We both stared at some young kid, probably thirteen or fourteen, with two Pokeballs on a belt around his waist. He looked really scrawny, and a lot less muscular or fit than most kids would've been by that age.

His voice, god. It cracked just like a kid's would, at his age. All high pitched and breaky, uneven. It would randomly drop pitch sometimes, but not often. His shrill yell was a little more than annoying, and I figured that unless I gave him what I wanted, he'd continue to ask, and complain, too. So I figured that I should just give in, and battle him, or whatever.

Even though I knew that this kid was younger than me, and probably didn't have too much experience- at least, he certainly didn't look like he did- I was still a little cautious about battling trained Pokemon. I hadn't had a real battle yet, because the only real fights we'd gotten in were against the weak, wild Pokemon of this forest. I knew that trained Pokemon would be harder, and different.

I wasn't really sure if I could pull it off or not.

But I wasn't going to not try, either.

I grinned.

"I accept your challenge." I said.

The kid put on a grin so huge I was worried for a second that he might rip his face in half. Instead, though, he put a hand on his hip, and enlarged one of the balls, and sent it flying, releasing his Pokemon.

"Go, Machop!"

A fairly muscular body formed from the red light, with a crest on its head that resembled hair, and a silvery gray body. It almost looked like it was anorexic, with how its ribs were showing, somewhat. It had a short, fat tail, and no toes.

I was glad that a Larvitar didn't possess the Dark type until it fully evolved into Tyranitar. Still, Larvitar and Pupitar were rock/ground, which meant that I was at a type disadvantage, still, no matter what I did. I wasn't sure on how it was going to play out, but I did know that Tina was strong, and that she wouldn't go down without a fight, regardless.

"Go, Tina!"

She cried an affirmative to me, and started charging forward. At such a low level fight, I figured that there was less room for tactics. It didn't completely get rid of them, but what I thought was that with a low movepool, and less physical prowess- strength and speed, for example- it was more about which Pokemon was simply stronger.

I hoped that it was Tina.

As she charged, the boy's Machop went forward as well- and echoed the cry.

"Larvitar!"

"Machop!"

The boy grinned, and yelled out his first attack.

"Machop, use Karate Chop!"

The Machop raised one hand and continued to charge forward. Their movements lacked any sort of real grace- they could move, and didn't fall over or anything, but at the same time, there was a lot left to be desired, as I watched the Machop light up its hand. Even when Tina had jumped and fought in previous battles, it hadn't really been a huge spectacle- her movement, that was. The fight itself, yes, of course, but not her movement.

The Machop's hand grew a blinding white, and I knew that if that hit Tina, it was going to hurt her, bad. I wasn't going to let that happen if I could help it.

"Tina, dodge!"

"Larv!" She cried as she jerked away and jumped to the side. That didn't completely deter the Machop, though, because as soon as he'd missed the Karate chop that left a huge crack in the ground where it had landed, he turned and started after Tina again, and lit up his hand, again.

Damn it! I told her to dodge again, and she did, again, but the Machop just did the same thing. The kid had a smirk on his face that could probably rival a Disney villain's.

"C'mon! Is that all you can do? Just run away?"

I grumbled. I didn't like the taunting.

"No!" I said.

Tina dodged again. I knew that if I sat here and did nothing, eventually, she'd get hit. And then it'd be my fault for it. Not to mention that wouldn't be the best way to start the battle. It'd just give me a terrible advantage.

I wasn't sure what attack to use, though. I didn't even know what attacks Tina did know. I groaned as I realized how ill prepared I actually was. I knew that she knew tackle. But that wouldn't do that much damage, would it? Machop was fighting type.

Well, better than nothing, I guess.

"Tina, dodge, and use… tackle?"

It came out weird, like a question, almost. Nevertheless, she growled, and did just that- as soon as the Machop missed, and created another crack on the ground, she jumped in from the side and slammed her fin into his ribs. The Machop groaned and I heard the other trainer suck his teeth before he started shouting.

"Get up Machop! Don't let her just beat on you like that!"

The Machop rose to his feet, gritting his teeth. It was clear that while the blow had stunned him and hurt him a bit, it certainly hadn't done anything significant. He was a fighting type, after all, and he was a lot stockier and healthier than a Ratatta or a Pidgey. It was going to be a tougher fight to take him down.

What could I do in this situation? It would eventually happen- Tina would be too slow, or Machop would get a lucky hit in- and with it being super effective, I knew that it was probably going to be all downhill from there. He'd probably keep hitting her until she went down. I wracked my brain and tried to think of moves that a Larvitar would know. I knew that Tina wasn't a newborn- and she was at least a little experienced in her Larvitar body.

What moves did they learn?

By chance, I remembered something.

Would that work?

I decided to try my plan. It was certainly better than continuing to do nothing as Tina had to endlessly dodge Karate Chops from the relentless Machop. Confidence growing stronger in my strategy, I called it out.

"Tina!"

She gave me her attention as she dodged a Karate Chop, and another crack was inflicted on the landscape. Already, the area that we'd been battling in was already messed up, with cracks in the ground every, and the grass was all torn up from the fight.

"Use Sandstorm!"

"Larvitarrrrrr!" She yelled, and lifted her stubby little paws in the air. As I saw the Machop coming closer and closer with a Karate Chop, and she still wasn't moving, I started to get nervous. But, just before he impacted, she opened her mouth and spat out a golden stream of sandy air, and she didn't stop spitting it out, either. The cloud of golden, sandy air was spat out, until it formed a thick barrier of sandy air that circled around them. It had hit Machop in the face when he was charging at her, and it had forced him to back off.

The cloud, in total, was probably a hundred feet around- fairly large. It was violent, and produced a loud roar that made it hard to hear noise from inside. Before Machop could leave or the trainer could have a chance to react and plan to what I was going to do, I tossed out orders to Larvitar. I was surprised that this was working so well. I had only thought up of this on the spot.

"Tina, tackle the Machop! Over and over!"

"Larv!" I heard her yell from within the Sandstorm, although it was muffled. Then I heard Machop's yells- cries of pain as he was battered, over and over, by Tina. I knew that she could see in the Sandstorm- or, at least, she knew how to sense within it. Meanwhile, though, Machop could not. He wouldn't be able to do anything, especially as an unevolved Pokemon with a low movepool. He probably only had a couple attacks.

It lasted a while- with Tina constantly beating on the Machop. I was beginning to wonder how long he'd last, considering she'd hit him over twenty times by now. The next hit, though, it was more than the regular cries he'd been admitting. He sounded more… exhausted. I saw the trainer's worried eyes, and decided to call off the Sandstorm. Tina had probably dealt significant damage, and she could probably finish it herself if the trainer still told his Machop to fight afterwards.

"Tina, stop the Sandstorm!" I yelled.

"Larv!" I heard, and then soon, the Sandstorm dissipated. The winds stop swirling, and the noise went away as the sand completely disappeared. Immediately, I saw Tina, fine, but breathing hard, and the other kid's Machop, who was covered in bruises and looked like he was about to pass out. He was down on one knee- he wasn't even able to stand up properly.

He tried to rise off of the knee was he was on, but he failed, and fell onto his face with one last groan. The trainer frowned, clearly concerned, and recalled his Pokemon. He didn't speak for several moments, as he put the ball back on his belt.

"Nice," he said. Then he reached for the other ball on his waist. He released it, and caught it in his hand, with practice, just like he had with Machop's ball. The red light formed a bird's shape- and I prepared for a Pidgey, because they were the common type around here. But, no, instead what formed was something else.

A Spearow, huh? I wasn't expecting that, to be honest.

I had to ask.

"Are you serious?"

He seemed offended. His previously calm face twisted into an ugly glare.

"Of course I am! What are you even talking about?"

"I'm talking about Rock Slide, of course," I said, nodding to Tina, who cheered, and raised her paws. For a second, nothing happened, and then large rocks, probably as big as my head or bigger appeared in the air. They twisted, and for once, I could see Tina struggling. This was probably the only time I'd ever seen her tired. It was taking a lot out of her to keep the attack up. It would probably be better if she just released it now.

"Use it!" I yelled.

"Larv!" She cried. Spearow hadn't just been sitting there this entire time, though. She'd been diving towards Tina. She didn't seem too eager to get close to the rocks, but she took her chances and tried to peck at her body, doing almost nothing, but still managing to be a major annoyance, a lot like a fly. A fly that was about to get crushed, that is.

Tina released the attack, and the rocks flew out a lot faster than I thought they would've. They scattered over the area where the Spearow was flying. It dodged almost all of them- but one caught it on the right wing. Almost immediately, it went down. It tried not to hit the ground too hard, but failed, and dug a nice trench in the dirt once it hit. The trainer recalled it, and glared at me.

He fished something out of his pocket and tossed it at me before walking away, mumbling something that I wasn't able to hear. Wait, money? Of course. I'd completely forgotten about that. Glad I didn't lose, then. I wouldn't have had anything to pay him with.

The kid walked out of sight within a few seconds, but I saw him going back in the direction of the town, no doubt to get his Pokemon healed. Tina was breathing harder than I thought she would've after that- and then she fell down on her face, still breathing hard.

"Tina!"

I rushed over towards her- and, with difficulty, because she was still really, really heavy- turned her over. She had a crack in the middle of her body- a jagged opening running across her red belly. The Machop must've caught her with one Karate Chop. How she managed to use Rock Slide while this injured, I didn't understand. I hastily recalled her, and started sprinting back towards the town.

I was actually overreacting. She was hurt, but it's not like it was anything fatal, or anything. She could've just taken a few days easy, eating a lot of soil, and she would've recovered even without the Pokemon Center. But I didn't know that, back then. And so I rushed towards the town- even past the kid I'd beaten, who looked surprised to see me again so soon.

I shoved past him, past people near the entrance of the town, and even past people in the middle of the town. I was started to really pant and get tired of sprinting by the time that I reached the Pokemon Center. I waited a second as the automatic doors opened, and then I sprinted inside, nearly tripping over my own feet as I reached the front desk.

I breathed hard, and leaned heavily on the counter as the Nurse Joy I'd seen hardly an hour prior stared at me with one eyebrow raised.

"Can I help you…sir?" She asked. I nodded.

I gave her my Pokeball wordlessly. She took it and stuck it in the machine- and gave it a diagnostic scan. Her calm expression darkened a bit, but not by much.

"She got hit with a Karate Chop by a Machop. What's wrong with her?"

Joy read over the readings again, and responded as she was taking the Pokeball out of the diagnostic machine.

"Really, it's just a crack in her body. It should repair itself over time, especially if she eats a lot of dirt. Regular Pokemon food works too, of course, because it contains the same vitamins and minerals. It's not as bad as you're thinking. This Larvitar of yours-"

"Tina," I breathed, interrupting her. I'd already taken the Pokeball back from her and now I was cradling it to my chest like it was a precious gem.

"Tina," she corrected herself, smiling, "could probably take a lot worse than this and still come out with no permanent damage. You must be fairly new at training, but the entire Larvitar line is very, very durable. It's not like you're holding any sort of flying type in your hands, you're holding a Larvitar. I've seen a Tyranitar take a Superpower from a Machamp before, and it rested for a few days, and then it was fine. Even if he was one of the strongest members of his species, there was no permanent damage, despite the quadruple weakness, and the incredible crack across his whole chest. And he healed."

She snapped her fingers.

"Just like that. So don't worry so much," she said.

I nodded again, and slumped back into one of the chairs in the entrance room of the Pokemon Center. I held the Pokeball in my hand and just stared at it for a minute, before sighing and deciding to go back to the room. I trudged my way up a few floors, still sort of breathing hard from running all the way here, and then walked all the way back to our room once I got to the top floor.

Hank was still asleep, but Jack was up, and he glanced towards the door as I came back in. He nodded to me as he sat up.

"I was wondering where you went. There you are," he said.

"Yeah. I was out," I said.

"Out doing what?"

"Well, at first, I just went outside town to let Tina eat some dirt, but then while I was out there, some kid challenged me to a battle. So I accepted and beat him. But when I did, Tina got hurt, so I rushed back here because I wasn't sure about her injury. But it really wasn't as much as I thought it was, and I was just making a mountain out of a molehill, really."

"Wow," he said. "What kind of injury does she have?"

Instead of responding verbally, I released her from the Pokeball onto the floor, and watched as she formed, standing, though she still winced whenever she tried to move. I helped her lay down onto the floor- and Jack walked over, and I showed him the crack on her belly.

"Wow, that looks like it hurts," he said. He rubbed her fin on her head.

"Yeah, I know it does, but the Nurse Joy said it's really not that much of a wound at all. I guess I'll just make sure that I don't push her too hard for a few days. She said that it would heal on its own, and that it didn't even need any treatment from her. It's not a serious injury, apparently." At this, Tina hopped up to her feet, and walked around gingerly.

She was probably testing out her range of motion with this wound in her stomach. It actually didn't look like moving around really bothered her that much, which was what I expected. After thinking about if for a little bit- especially when realizing that Tina was probably a lot stronger and older than the Machop- it made sense that even though she'd been hit, he hadn't done any real damage.

And Pokemon were probably used to wounds from so many fights in the wild, too, so it wasn't anything that she couldn't shrug off and just heal from in the next couple of days.

"Larv," she said, and her cry sounded weak. She flopped onto her back, taking great care not to touch her stomach in any way, and then she closed her eyes. After a few rises and falls of her little body, I realized that she was napping.

"Let's just leave her alone," I said, and Jack agreed. We both sat down on the bed.

It was silent for a moment, until Jack decided to ask.

"So, what are we going to do now?"

It was the same question, the same one he'd asked before. Only, last time, I at least had an answer to give him. That we were going to the nearest town, and once we were out of the wilderness, we'd decide what to do then. And now that we were out, and we had time to think, we had to decide what to do.

We wanted to go back, right?

"I guess we find a way to go back home, right?"

Jack turned to me. He wasn't angry, but instead, more like disappointed.

"You guess?"  
"I mean, yeah. We go home. However we can."

He sighed.

"How are we going to do that, though? We have no idea how we were even sent here in the first place. How can we get back when we don't know the way back?"

"Well, actually…"

He turned to me again- suddenly, very serious.

"You know something I don't?"

"Well, as far as I saw, when we got transported here, we were falling through this… void thing. It was like all different colors or something. I felt like I was on LSD. Anyway, we were all falling, and everyone was asleep or unconscious except for me. I think just random luck, honestly. I went unconscious a little while after it started, anyway."

Jack's look of disbelief lasted significantly shorter than I thought it would've. I guess, though, that since we were in the Pokemon World, he'd become a lot more accepting of strange things. I knew I certainly had.

He made a rolling motion with one of his hands- get on with it.

"And? What about that? Did you see… you know, anything else?"

"Well, I did see two giant monsters fighting."

"Two giant monsters?"

Ah. Now there was some disbelief.

"Well, what did they look like?"

"I only really saw silhouettes, but still, they were huge. Thinking about it now, they might've been Pokemon, probably were, honestly. The attacks they were using looked a lot like Hyper Beams and Surf, things like that."

"D-did they have four legs?"

"I don't really see how that matters, I mean, do the legs mean any-"

"YES, THE LEGS MEAN SOMETHING!"Jack shouted.

He was shaking. Jack was shaking.

Why?

"Uh, yeah. Both of them had four legs. They were quadrupeds."

Jack grew pale- and it was much like the first time we were in this world, when he realized we were among Pokemon, only his face had more terror than shock on it. He started absently playing with his hands- fiddling them together, pulling on his fingers-

"What do the four legs mean, Jack?"

"I think…" He said. He wasn't able to get the words out.

He shuddered, and breathed hard, before calming himself, and speaking.

"I think that we got sent here by accident because of a fight between Dialga and Palkia."

Oh. Well, that made a lot more sense than anything I was going to suggest.

"Palkia is the Legendary of Space, and Dialga, of Time. It makes sense that if they're really as strong as lore says they are- they're probably gods, here- then they could probably do something like this. It's the only thing I can think of, anyway."

Something about that didn't make any sense, though.

"But what about the cartridge? Remember the noises it made?"

Jack threw his hands in the air.

"I don't have the answers for everything, man! I don't know, maybe that was just what it happened to come through. Maybe a portal could've just formed in the middle of the air and dragged us through! Who knows anymore? Really, who knows? I sure don't."

He wasn't done yet, not by a long shot.

"I mean, who the hell even knows anymore? I've already had wasps with stingers as big as my chest trying to kill me! And if what we know from the games and anime is true, then there are things that shoot fire here, that can levitate and teleport and make lightning come from the sky, even when there isn't a storm! So, tell me this, Daniel- What's the point of trying to put logic to any of this when this whole place defies logic anyway?"

He put his hands on his hips.

"Well?"

I didn't really have anything to say.

He threw his hands in the air again, sighed, and sat back down on the bed.

"Exactly. It's bullshit."

I still stayed silent for a while after that. I didn't expect Jack to be so frustrated. I was guessing that he was just angry about being cut off from his family like that. I thought it sucked too, but… I don't know. I guess I was just dealing with it better than he was at the time. He ran his hand through his hair, and sighed.

"Look. I don't know what we're going to do, but we have to do something-"

"I know we have to, Jack," I said, interrupting him. "But I don't have many ideas either. What the hell are we supposed to do, just walk up to Palkia and tell him to send us back?"

"Well, we don't know that they're necessarily gods. They could just be strong. If we got strong enough, we might be able to capture it and make it take us back. Once we found Terry and Matt, that is."

"Yeah," I said. "It sounds unlikely, though. The games depict them as gods, and in the anime and movies the only reason they aren't stronger is because Ash has to save the day."

"You're right," he said, conceding that point. "It doesn't make it impossible, though. That's the biggest problem with our situation- We don't know anything. Already, we've seen plenty of differences between what we think is Pokemon, and what Pokemon actually is. There are some things the same, but again, probably not everything, and certainly not a majority."

"I guess the first thing we should do is figure out exactly where we are. What region."

"Yeah, that'd probably be a good start," Jack said. He clapped me on the back and sat up, and then walked over to Hank, and started shaking him. Jack was fairly short in comparison, so it almost looked like he was trying to shake a bear awake, which was funny.

Hank turned over, mumbling, and ripped his eyes open, glaring at the both of us.

"What do you want?" He had a hoarse voice- probably from snoring all night. That really doesn't help the dryness of your throat, at all.

"What region are we in?"

"What?"

"What region are we in? I don't want to attract any attention or get weird looks for asking anyone else, and you already know how we actually came here. So, what region are we in?" Hank rubbed his eyes and swung himself over, letting his feet hit the floor. He stretched, and I could hear his back crack like I'd just stepped on a bunch of dry twigs.

"Johto. You're in Johto," He said.

"Alright. What city is this?"

Hank mumbled something and headed towards the bathroom. I rolled my eyes and started towards the door.

"Wait, he didn't tell us yet," Jack said.

"Yeah, but I'm pretty sure I saw a huge map in the entrance room of the Pokemon Center. Probably regional- global, if we're lucky. I'm sure the geography is nowhere near the same as the maps from the game are. We're going to have to learn a whole new globe, so get ready," I said. Jack sighed, and then jumped to his feet, nodding, and followed me.

Before I shut the door, I called back to Tina.

"We'll be back Tina! Don't go anywhere."

"Laaaaaaarv…"

It didn't sound like she was going to go anywhere.

Jack followed me downstairs, and we reached the lobby, I looked around for what I remembered. It was there, on the left wall. It took up a decent portion of the wall because it was big enough so that multiple people could read it at the same time. It even had a legend and everything.

It was a huge piece of paper, hung in a clean iron frame.

In simple, emblazoned letters, JOHTO was written in the top of the frame.

Wow, did it look different.

If my memory was correct, Johto had been one large piece of mainland, with a pretty big peninsula, almost like Florida. The design of the region was almost boring. The cities and routes, those had real design in them, but the land itself? Very simply shaped, in the anime and games. But here, it wasn't like that.

It wasn't like that at all.

It showed the very edge of Kanto, that bordered it to the north, and then it showed the rest of the continent. It was almost fractured- there were several small islands inside of Johto, and the rest of it was one gigantic land mass. To the south, it split into three smaller peninsulas that weren't as big as the one from the game, but were still fairly large. And toward the west, as the continent reached the edge of the water, it looked like the land got jagged.

We were somewhere in the heart of Johto. I saw famous, massive cities on the legend- Goldenrod, Blackthorn, and Olivine. There were other, smaller towns on there too- some of them from the games, others that I'd never heard of until that very second. Cherrygrove, New Bark, and then a bunch of others that I didn't know- and Girk town, the one we were in right now, named for the forest that was right by this town.

"It's completely different," Jack said. I nodded. This wasn't what I was expecting- well, it was, but not exactly this. I was expecting differences, but not this much, either. I was probably just being optimistic. The more we knew about this world, the better, and the more we had to learn because there were differences between what we knew and what was actually the truth, it only hindered us more, which was why I hoped on minor differences, not major ones.

It was fairly clear by this point that that hope was going mostly unanswered.

"So, we're in Johto. It would've been better if we were in Hoenn or Sinnoh. Closer to Sinnoh, or already in it. Now we have to travel there, instead," Jack said.

"Sinnoh, because Palkia's there, right?" I asked.

"That would be the best place to start looking, but being there for sure is probably not something to rely on. I wouldn't be surprised if Legendary Pokemon traveled all around everywhere, all the time. They probably don't just stay in one region."

"Yeah, I guess that makes sense. There probably aren't as many 'native' Pokemon as there are in the show or games, either. It never made sense to me how some of the Pokemon couldn't just live in other environments. Like, why would you never see a Starly in Johto? The forests here are probably a lot like the forests there. There's not much difference," I said.

"How are we going to get there, though?" I asked.

Jack had been thinking about something- probably related to my previous comment. He jerked his head up.

"What?"

"I said, how are we going to get there? We're practically stranded halfway across the world from where we want to be. We can't just hitch a free ride. I imagine that regular air travel here is expensive- probably because people can just use Pokemon for that. I only have a little money from when I beat that kid, but it's probably not that much," I admitted.

"We'll figure something out," he said. His voice was soft and quiet, though, and he didn't sound so sure. I really wasn't sure about what we were going to do, either.

It was still early in the morning, not too late yet, and I figured that the cafeteria would still be serving breakfast. The area they had as the cafeteria was fairly large- not as large as any huge public place, like a school or something like that, but still probably capable of serving a couple hundred people. We got a mishmash of breakfast items- they had eggs and bacon, and orange juice, too, as well as toast.

We sat down and started to eat, and it was a strange thought that passed through my mind while we were eating. If this was the Pokemon World, then what sort of bacon was I eating? Pokemon bacon, or pig bacon? I figured it would be the latter, at least, I hope so. I knew that the show sometimes referred to Pokemon being thought of as food, but after seeing the culture here, it didn't seem that likely to me.

"The food is really good here," Jack said as we ate. He was right. Usually when cooking in mass like this, quality suffered. Any person in high school could tell you that the cafeteria food in their school sucked, at least, it usually did. But somehow, it wasn't the same here.

We were still eating when Hank stopped by at our table, and sat next to both of us, with his own tray full of food. He started eating immediately, and didn't speak until he finished, somehow way before we did, even though we'd started earlier. I think part of it was because he ate like the food was dust and his mouth was a vacuum cleaner.

When he was finished eating, he burped and smiled, before setting his silverware down onto his plate. Then he spoke.

"So, now that we're out of dodge, what do you two plan on doing?"

It shocked me a little, the bluntness of the question.

Still, I answered it.

"Remember Matt and Terry, the other two that we told you about?"

He nodded.

"Yeah, well, we're going to look for them. I don't really know how we're going to find them, but we need to. We're just going to have to look, and hope we get lucky, I guess."

He shook his head and laughed.

I glared at him.

"What, you think this is funny?"

"The way you're going about finding them is. This world is huge, kid. Probably as big as your world back home or even bigger. Just looking with your eyes like that, you'll never find him. At least, you won't if you just look with two people."

I slammed the table with one open palm- it shook the silverware a little, and made people that were sitting near us look at us weird. I was raising my voice.

"What, you have a better idea? No, really, I want to hear it! Because it's a lot better than the fucking nothing that I have now!"

He remained calm despite my rage, and replied.

"Actually, yeah. I do have an idea. And it's more of a plan than an idea. And it's a lot better than anything you could probably pull off."

Jack cut in this time, and he was a lot calmer than I was.

"Just what exactly is it?"

Instead of responding, he reached inside of his pants, and pulled out something. It looked like it was made of both some sort of tough cloth, and something shiny, too- probably metal. He passed it to me and Jack, face up, and let us look at it. It reminded me of a police badge, if anything. The cloth was between really dark blue and black- I couldn't really name the shade of color that it was.

The metal that was held inside of the cloth was extremely shiny- actually, it looked like it had just been polished recently. It glimmered, and it had words carved into the metal, along with shapes and symbols. The badge was a triangle with rounded corners, and inside the middle of the triangle, was a Pokeball.

Then, what surrounded the Pokeball were a bunch of hands- thirty or forty of them, all protecting it. They weren't reaching for the Pokeball, but instead, they were acting as barriers for darker, viler claws that tried to strike at the Pokeball from the shadows. From inside the Pokeball, and around the hands, a light was shining from within.

Under all of this, in bold, strong letters that curved upwards, it said:

POKEMON RANGER CORPS.

I stared at it for a few seconds, without saying anything, before sliding back across the table to Hank. Hank didn't pocket it, but instead, pinned it to his chest.

"Lieutenant Ranger of the Pokemon Ranger Corps, Hank Crest, at your service," he said.

Needless to say, we were both stunned into silence.

"Wait, you're not a hiker?"

Hank waved his hand.

"No, I still hike. On my free time, anyway. I'm off duty right now, on leave. I still keep my badge with me, though."

I felt a little weird about being so casual with Hank prior, after he'd told us this. He was like a state trooper or a policeman or something, only more, with more power- or, at least I imagined he had more- and more jurisdiction, commanded more respect, and so on.

"I knew that they had rangers in the Pokemon World from the games and the anime, but they never went into detail with it. Just how high up is a Lieutenant, anyway?" I asked.

I noticed the little text below POKEMON RANGER CORPS. Before, it had been so small compared to the large name that I hadn't even noticed it- but in smaller, shiny text, it said Lieutenant.

"It's up there. The ranking system is fairly complicated, and I really don't feel like explaining it right now, but trust me when I say that I have some influence," Hank said.

Looking at the badge again, I did trust him. It certainly looked official.

"What does the badge have to do with anything, though?" Jack asked.

Hank nodded.

"Yeah, I'd figure you'd ask that. Just because I'm in an organization doesn't mean that that does anything- that is, if I was just another grunt on the bottom level. But I'm not. Like I said, I have influence. I can do a few things for you, if you want," he said.

"What kind of things?" Jack asked.

"Put the word out. I can just say that there have been a few people that have gone missing- you'd give me your friends' descriptions, of course- and if anyone sees them, they can either contact me, or contact you. Either way, you'd know fairly fast where they were. Pokemon Rangers handle all kind of business. We're kinda like the law of the world."

I was surprised that he was even doing this for us.

"Hey, man, uh… thanks, but I gotta ask."

He interrupted me.

"Why am I doing this for you?"

"Basically, yeah," I said.

"It's my job to help people. I have to be upstanding, even if I didn't want to be," he said.

He laughed.

"It's really not as hard for me as you're thinking it is. I'm not even going out of my way or anything. When I get back, I spend ten or fifteen mentioning this to a guy, give him some information, he does some sketches, and they put the word out. Really. It's not hard."

When he put it like that, it was really hard to ignore it.

"Wow. Uh, alright. Sounds good. So, here's what they look like…"

Jack and I spent a good ten minutes describing Matt and Terry to the guy as best as we could- from their physical characteristics, to their personalities and quirks, and even the clothing they'd been wearing since we'd last seen them, as well as their age, and basically everything else. Everything we could name or think about them, we gave it to Hank.

He jotted all of it down on this tiny notepad that he had on him, and then he put it away, afterwards. It was so different, seeing Hank on the job like that- he was still lighthearted, as he had been before, but it was also easy to feel how serious he was about his job. Even down to the way he sat, he seemed ready for anything, at any time.

It was kind of cool.

When we were done giving him the information, he smiled, and nodded to both of us.

"I'll make sure that it gets out. We'll find them. Trust me."

And with the smile on Hank's face, and the way he said those words- in that hard, strong, confident tone, I really believed that they would, too.

XxXxXx

We'd finished eating, and we were now back in the lobby of the Pokemon Center, sitting on some of the empty chairs that were available, scattered around the lobby. Hank had gone back and changed out of his hiking clothes- and in the ranger outfit, he looked a lot better, I had to say. It really fit him more.

He had a simple red cap on his head that contained most of his hair inside it. It had only a small slit in the back, to let air in. Next, he had on a small jacket that didn't connect in the middle, and only went halfway down his torso. Both his undershirt and his pants were blue, and he had a black belt that was tied tight around his waist. The last thing Hank had on were brown boots that the pant legs tucked into.

On the shoulders of the small jacket were light white Pokeballs, and the words POKEMON RANGER CORPS were printed around the designs. There were little notches in his belt for miniaturized Pokeballs, and he had his two in there, and had room for four more.

Hank nodded to both of us.

"This is what I look like on the job," he said.

"Nice. You look good," Jack said.

"Thanks. I'm getting ready to head back to base. My leave is almost up."

This was both exciting, and scary. And both for the same reason. Soon, Hank would be leaving, and we'd be losing several things. We'd be losing the only guy that knew the truth about us. We'd be losing the guy that had helped us get here, and had told us everything we currently knew about the world we were in. We'd be losing the only real source of information we had about where we were. Hank was also really good for common sense.

But most of all, we'd be losing a friend. Even though I hadn't known him for very long at all, I still found the guy really likable, and he was easy to like, too. Hank Crest was just really solid and there didn't seem to be any holes in him. Maybe more would be revealed in time, but for now, I didn't see much wrong with the guy.

He was ok, in my book.

Hank led us outside- and now, he was hefting his large pack, which would hold him over until he arrived back at the base, which, from what he told us, was in another city.

Already, I could see the kind of respect a ranger got in the Pokemon World. Before he'd even started speaking to us once we got outside of the Pokemon Center and had moved near the street right outside it, people passing by gave him nods and looks of appreciation. I guess the rangers really did their jobs right and were looked at as heroes around here. Hank seemed used to it, though, and while he acknowledged their looks, he didn't pay them any special attention as he started to speak to us.

"Well, I'll be going, now. I have to get back on duty. Here's my advice to you two- you should both try training while you look for your friend. It was fun for me in my youth, and it'll probably be fun for you, too. You don't really have much else to do, anyway. Everyone should try the training and traveling experience once in their lives. Or so I say."

I grinned at him. "Thanks, Hank. I won't ever forget this."

He smiled back at me.

"It's nothing. One last thing, though."

I raised my brow at him. What was he talking about?

He patted his pockets for a few moments, frowning, before he grinned and pulled out a phone. It was one of those old flip phones. Not like the smartphones that we had in our world, but I was sure that it would still function just fine.

He handed it to me.

"You can call me on there if you have any really important questions. Really, though, that line is just so that if I hear anything about your friends I can call you and tell you where to go. This is one of the newer models, too, and the battery lasts a really long time, and the range is good enough, too," Hank said.

"A lot of natural habitats are left for Pokemon, and as a result, there aren't as many cell towers, but the ones we do have are really efficient. You should have a signal, anywhere, though if you go into a cave or something, you're obviously going to lose your connection."

Then he gave me a cord to charge the phone with every once in a while.

I grinned even wider, and grasped his hand, and squeezed hard.

He met me right in the middle, and we shook hands, and then he clapped me on the back before he started walking away.

"I'm sure I'll see you again sometime, kid. Stay alive!" He called, as he walked away.

Jack and I waved him goodbye as he left town. Even as he did, though, there was something that was on my mind. Something that I couldn't shake. It was what Hank had said.

The last comment of his made me a bit nervous. There was plenty of laughter and humor in his voice as he said it- and I knew that he was joking. But at the same time, with all I'd seen so far in this world and other things he'd told me about- like Pokemon thieves and criminals- it made the tiniest bit worried.

I eventually shrugged it off, though.

It was really nothing to worry about.

XxXxXx

After Hank left, Jack and I discussed what we should do next.

We walked back inside the Pokemon Center and sat down. It was only midday by that point, and we still had plenty of time left to decide our next moves. By midday, it had seemed that a lot of trainers had cleared out and only a few were left.

"So, what now?" Jack asked.

"Your very own Pokemon legend is about to unfold! A world of dreams and adventures with Pokemon awaits-"I said, quoting Professor Oak, but Jack punched me in the side, laughing.

"S-shut the fuck up, Daniel!" He said, though he barely managed to, because he was giggling so hard.

"In all seriousness, though, I guess we might as well take this chance to try training. We might as well, right? I really doubt that we're going to find Matt and Terry anytime soon, and it's probably safe to say that this is a once in a lifetime opportunity, besides."

"I don't have a Pokemon to start with, though," Jack pointed out.

"Yeah, you're right. We're going to catch you one," I said.

"I'll use Tina. I have enough money on me to buy Pokeballs, or so I hope. I still have it from when I beat that kid this morning," I pointed out.

"Right. Cool, let's go!" Jack leapt up from his seat. I followed and we made our way back to the room. We'd been away for a few hours, so I was hoping that Tina was starting to feel better by now. I knew that for sure she wouldn't be fully healed by now, but there was a good chance that she'd rested a lot and she was feeling better. I wouldn't really exert her, anyway- we wouldn't try to catch anything too hard on our first outing.

We reached the door and I twisted it open, and walked inside.  
I retrieved my Pokeball from my pants pocket. I'd put it in there after leaving Tina inside the room. I spotted her in the same place that I'd left her in- she was still passed out on the floor, though her eyes were flickering open and closed. Right when I walked next to her and sat down, she woke up, and gave a frail cry.

"Larv."

It didn't sound as weak as before, which was good, but it was also nowhere near as strong or as confident as it had been originally, either. She still probably had a lot of healing left before she was really better again. I glanced towards her stomach.

It confirmed my suspicions. Even though the crack was not as wide as it had been, and it had closed up some, it was still there, and I knew that for a while, that area would be weak for her. Still, she leapt up off of the ground, and this time, it didn't look like she was wincing, or in any kind of pain- and if she was, she was hiding it really well.

Tina rubbed an eye with one paw, and moaned her name as she woke up. She was still drowsy.

"Larvitar, Larv… Larv…"

I reached down with one hand and rubbed her little fin, and she leaned and nuzzled into my hand. She still seemed as cheerful and affectionate as she'd always been, so that was good. I returned her to the Pokeball and shrunk it, before dropping it in my pocket, with my money.

Jack and I then took our time walking around the town after we left the Pokemon Center. It must've been thirty or forty minutes, easy, before we got stumped and just decided to ask someone for directions. Somehow, after playing Pokemon games in our youth, we'd thought that because we'd done that, it meant that the cities and towns would be really easy to navigate.

No, they weren't.

There were a few thousand people that lived here and the town was fairly big, at least a few miles in diameter, probably more.

There weren't four houses, a mart, and a Pokemon Center with a gym. This was a lot larger. It was weird how constantly reality about the world was drilled into us. Every time I'd go into something or expect something to happen, and it didn't, I'd have to remind myself:

It's a real world, guy. Stop being an asshole.

It was hard to adjust, though. I hoped that it would just come in time.

Once we'd asked for directions, we eventually went to an area that was almost like the shopping district of the towns. Most of the shops were here- and it varied, from small little stalls selling one thing, to larger stores that dabbled, but mostly focused on one thing, and then there were stores that were like Wal-Mart of K-Mart. Giant, mega-stores that sold everything, and for cheap. The shopping here wasn't so different from our world.

Except for the emphasis on Pokemon products, that was.

All different kinds of products, for all different kinds of Pokemon.

"Get your fire resistant clothes here!" One shopkeeper yelled.

"Tired of your Typhlosion burning up your shirt by accident? Look no further!"

From clothes, to hair products, to different kinds of Pokeballs that had interesting designs and looked cooler, and even premium, expensive Pokemon food, of course. It should've been what I was expecting. There were plenty of normal shops, too, that sold products just for humans, but they didn't seem to have the same hype and popularity that the Pokeshops did.

We found our way to one of these human shops. People were still looking at us strangely, mostly because we were still wearing those terribly destroyed clothes. We looked like common vagrants. At least I had some money in my pocket to change that, though.

The shop we entered was quieter, which was a welcome contrast to the chaos and loudness of the marketplace outside. There were only a few people inside here, perusing through the random outfits, trying to decide whether or not they'd buy anything. The shopkeeper, an old man, seemed a little too enthusiastic.

"What can I get you two? Anything at all, from this fine store. Provided you have the money, of course," he said. He had a hoarse, withered voice that made him sound even more desperate than he already was.

"We'll just be a minute while we try these on," I said. I held up a few pairs of shirts and pants that I'd found. Jack had his own. We moved to the changing room.

"Sure, sure. Take all the time you need to," the old man said.  
I wasn't exactly sure about how much money I had on me, but after looking at the price tag on the clothes for a minute, and comparing the symbols to the symbols used on the bills, I was pretty sure I could afford it.

The clothes fit me well enough, though since they were coming from this store, they really weren't anything you'd take to a nice dinner. At best, they were everyday clothes. We had a few pairs of normal pants, in different shades of blue and black, and plain t-shirts with simple colors and uncomplex designs on the front.

Pokeballs, or pictures of Pokemon, were also common on the shirts. I had one I was buying that was an orange tee with an outline of a Charmander in red, on the front. Really, not that original. Still, it was the best we could afford right now, and even if we looked a little stupid, it was better than going around in those ruined clothes.

And we didn't even look stupid, anyway. Everyone around us wore similar things, most of them having something to do with Pokemon. It was like Pokemon overload, all the stuff we'd seen in the marketplace so far- food, clothes, posters and pictures. Just about anything you could imagine, except in Pokemon form.

After a little while, I thought I was going to puke.

After getting some new clothes, we left that shop, and toured around a little more. I wanted to get the best deal on Pokeballs that I could- that way, I wouldn't waste any money that I didn't have to waste. I was going to have to be frugal while I was here. It was something I'd realized not long after I'd figured out the pricing of things around here.

After I bought some Pokeballs, I figured that what I'd do then would be buy backpacks and food, necessities. After that, there'd be no more money spent.

As it turned out, most of the shops had similar deals on Pokeballs, and it was really hard to get any deal that was any different than another shop. It was usually what would be a few cents difference in our world. It basically wasn't even worth looking around for the cheaper prices. After a while of walking around, I just bought a few Pokeballs.

I needed to catch Jack at least one. And it would've probably good if I caught another, but I didn't know. I didn't feel like having a normal Pokemon. I was the kinda guy who just went with his starter until good team additions were available. In the games, I never bothered catching Ratatta or Pidgey- when later, I can catch a Dratini later and just evolve it? It never made sense to me.

Here though, it was different. I knew that they were actual living things, not just lines of code with cute sprites, but it still didn't really change my opinion on it. I figured that I'd just wait for something good to come along and then catch that. I figured that if I was going to train, I might as well do it the way I wanted to.

"How much?" I asked, holding up a few bills. I'd decided to buy us five- two for each of us, and one extra for Jack's first Pokemon. This was a small Pokeball shop that was off to the side. The middle aged woman running it picked five balls off of the wall behind her and handed them to me. She took the money I had in my hand.

"That's enough for your purchase. Thank you. Come again, please."

I nodded to her as we walked away. The balls were in their miniature state, and I gave three to Jack and stuck the last two of my own into my pocket. He grinned at me and pocketed what I gave him.

"Thanks, man. What next?" Jack asked.

"Well, I thought that we'd just buy some basic supplies and get ourselves stronger before we really leave town. I do not want to be caught out there unprepared like we were the first time, before Hank found us," I said.

Jack nodded. "Yeah, that makes sense."

"I really just think we got lucky," I admitted, as we slipped our way through the roving crowds of people buying things.

There were plenty of people who had Pokemon, that were walking right past us.

One girl my age had a Ninetails. The lore in the Pokedex inside the games always mentions them as amazingly beautiful, and it told the truth. It was a big fox, and in general, the body shape and coloring was similar to how it looked in the game. Only, in real life…

I couldn't stop staring.

I really couldn't. It wasn't even attraction, or anything related to love or lust or anything. I just couldn't stop staring. It was the sort of thing you did when you were completely flabbergasted by something that was really beautiful-especially something natural.

Your brain says one thing, and your eyes say another.

Your brain says, no, no way, there's no way something can be that beautiful and symmetrical and simply gorgeous, no, it's practically divine, that's impossible-

And then the eyes say, look.

Her eyes bored into me, like roaring fires. They were so bright and black, but they weren't beady, they weren't… menacing, in any way. It was simply something to stare at, as they stared back at me, and it was so beautiful, and no, I couldn't look away, I couldn't-

"Ciri! What have I told you about using Charm on people!?"

Wait, what?

I shook my head, and looked again. It wasn't… the same. The Ninetails- Ciri was her name, I guess- was still ridiculously beautiful, but I was able to look away if I wanted to. I didn't, but I was actually able to. Before, I'd felt like my eyes were glued to her. The Ninetails, with her head hanging down, chastised, and followed her trainer, some young woman who was around my age, were coming toward me.

"I'm so, so sorry," the girl said. "S-she'll never do it agai-"

"Whoa, whoa," I said, holding my hands in front of my chest. "Calm down. It's really not that big of a deal. It's fine, really. She's hard to deal with, I'm guessing?"

"Uh, yeah. Thanks."

"It's fine," I repeated. "Really, it's not that big of a deal."

She didn't say anything back, though with how relieved she looked after I'd told her it wasn't a big deal, she seemed like she was glad that I hadn't made something out of nothing.

"What's your name?" I asked.

"It's, uh… Brianna," she whispered. She squirmed a bit as she stood in front of me.

"That's your Ninetails, huh?" Jack asked.

"Yeah," she admitted, laughing. She was really quiet. "She's sort of hard to control, though. It's how they always say - they're as stuck up as they are pretty."

She was right. Even now, Ciri, even though she was shorter than me, stared me down like she was the one that was taller, and she was the one looking down on me. If she had her nose any higher, she'd probably be standing on her hind legs. She was really haughty.

"Nine," Ciri said. She butted her head against the girl's leg, and the girl turned and huffed, before starting to pet Ciri's head. Ciri purred, and nuzzled into her head.

"You shouldn't be so prissy in front of others, Ciri," the girl said, scolding her. It didn't really look like it was having any effect on her, though. Ciri rolled her eyes and swished her tails back and forth behind her.

Brianna frowned, but didn't say anything as she continued to pet Ciri.

Brianna was probably as pretty as Ciri was. She had fiery red hair that hung down past her shoulders, frizzy and uncombed, and donned a pink shirt with white stripes and long sleeves that looked like it'd been pulled on in a rush five minutes ago, with little wrinkles on the sleeves and chest areas. She wore light blue pants that hugged her legs tight. Her shoes almost reminded me of Converse, except with Pokemon designs on them instead and not quite as small and slim as Converse shoes were.

Her skin was a really light white- she didn't look like she got outside a lot. Her eyes were a deep emerald color. It was weird seeing different eye colors here. There were shades I'd never seen before, yet. I suppose it was because of a different gene pool.

It didn't really matter what it was because of, though- Her eyes were pretty.

"Well, uh, how long have you had her?"

"About eight months, although I only evolved her recently," Brianna said.

I nodded, though I was wondering whether that was weird or not. I still had no real knowledge about the lifespan and age of Pokemon and things like that.

"Is that average, or late or early?" I asked.

"It's… around average, maybe a little early," Brianna said. "Why?"

"Oh, nothing. It's just my friend Jack and I are new to training, and I'm not really sure about a lot of things. I'm just asking."

"Oh, really? Well, the lifespan of Pokemon vary, but generally, they evolve early and live a long time after that, usually. The reason for that is because they can't stay weak and unevolved in the wild for long, and when they're with a trainer, and not fighting for their life out in the wilderness they usually live for a long, long time. I know that a Ninetails average lifespan is probably a good fifty or sixty years- but really, if you really treat them well, it can go longer," she said.

I hadn't been expecting that.

"Wow, really?" I asked, in disbelief. I was surprised that it was that long. Dragons, sure, that was believable that they would live for a long time. In general, just anything big that looked like they had a long lifespan- like a Metagross, for instance. That was believable, to me. A Ninetails, though? Living for sixty years? That was crazy, to me.

"Yep. She could live well into my seventies," Brianna said.

"Wow. What do you know about Tyranitars?"

"What about them?"

"Well, how long do they live?" I asked.

"Them? They can live even longer. Even a Tyranitar dying young can live for at least a hundred years. They're practically living stone, after all." Brianna said. She stroked Ciri's head as she purred and nuzzled into Brianna's hand.

"Oh," I said. That was... weird. So, even if I got to keep my Pokemon, Tina would outlive me? It wasn't like I wanted her to die or anything, but it also seemed strange that one day, I would just die of old age, and then she'd just be without a trainer.

Would she be sad for me?

"Uh, are you there, guy?" Brianna asked. I'd been spacing out.

"What? Oh, yeah. I'm here." I said. I rubbed the back of my head.

"Go on." I told her. I wanted to hear more.

"Lifespan varies, though. Most flying types don't live beyond thirty or forty. Psychics vary wildly between species. Ghost types live forever until they're killed again- and then, wherever they go, well, that depends on what you believe. Things like Rattata don't usually live beyond ten or fifteen years. Bug types, even less, usually. They evolve the fastest, though, so it makes sense."

"I'm surprised that you don't know this, though," Brianna admitted. She turned to me. "Didn't you ever attend Trainer School or anything?" Well, here goes lying.

Again.

"Oh, I did, but I always slept through class," I said, grinning.

"He hardly ever paid attention," Jack added.

"Slack off!" She said, giggling as she pushed my shoulder.

I shrugged my shoulders, and both Brianna and Ciri rolled their eyes at me, even though they were still smiling.

"What made you want to get into training all of a sudden?" Brianna asked.

Well, this wouldn't be entirely lies, at least.

"I'd never tried it before, and I figured that at least I should give it a chance before I get any older. Plus, I got Tina, out of nowhere. I want to train her, so… yeah," I said.

"Who's Tina?" Brianna asked.

"My Larvitar. I've only had her for a few days. I won my first battle, though," I said.

"Wow, a Larvitar? You're lucky. Those are pretty rare. Can I see her?"

"Yeah, I guess. She got hurt in the battle, though, and I'm trying to let her take it easy, so she probably shouldn't be awake for too long."

"That's alright. I just want to see her. You usually don't get the chance to see a Larvitar up close like that, especially in the wild. Trainer-owned Larvitar, maybe, but not a wild one. Have fun getting your brains smashed in by the mom or dad instead."

I laughed, but it held no humor. If only she knew.  
I released Tina, and once the red light formed into her shape, and the color went back to normal, she let out a happy cry. I was happy too, when I noticed how much her wound had closed up. Maybe Nurse Joy had been understating just how durable a Larvitar really was. It was a thin, stretching crack across her stomach and some of her chest. It had shortened and closed up even more, and now Tina was walking around without pain- she was normal again, mostly. Every now and then I noticed a twinge of pain, but it was rare.

I was betting that some time in the Pokeball had helped her out. She'd gotten some rest that she needed. I didn't feel bad about battling some wild Pokemon with her, now. She could certainly hold her own with a wound like that. I was sure that in one or two days, it would be gone completely. She'd be back to her cheery little self, completely.

"Wow, she's so cute!" Brianna gushed.

Ciri purred and rubbed her paws around Brianna's legs, but she just squirmed away from Ciri's head and paws, and continued to pet and go crazy over Tina. Tina didn't look like she necessarily loved the attention- she frowned, but allowed Brianna to pet her. It was weird that she didn't like her. I didn't get why. She always loved getting petted by me. It never seemed to bother her when Jack or Hank had done it, either.

"How long are you going to stay in this town before you leave?" Brianna asked.

It struck me by surprise, but I still answered honestly.

"Probably we're going to be going out today. Not leaving just yet, but we might be out there for a few days, I guess. Why?"

"Nothing… I've tried training once, but it didn't end well, and I didn't get very far, anyway. My dad gave me Ciri as a birthday present a while back, and now that she's evolved, I figured that I might try training again. I don't know about my parents, though. They said I should go to college, though. I'm not really sure about what I want to do, yet."

"Would you mind if… if I came along?" She asked. It was really sudden.

"Uh… can you give me a second to talk with my friend about this?"

"Sure, take all the time you want to," Brianna said. I left her petting Tina while I took a few steps out of earshot with Jack. We ducked behind a stall and I asked it, blunt.

"Do you care if she comes along with us?"

Jack shook his head.

"Nah, man. It's ok with me."

I grinned.

"Cool. I figure that if we have a lot of people, it'll be safer out there," I said.

"That's true," Jack admitted. "It's also more people to have to compete with for captures, though. I was thinking we would use the-whoever-sees-it-first rule, right?" He asked, for confirmation. I nodded.

"Yeah, that seems fair enough. If you aren't really paying attention and looking, you don't deserve the chance to capture it anyway. That's how I see it, at least."

"Oh yeah, one more thing," he said, as we watched Brianna pet the Larvitar.

"What?" I asked.

"Keep it in your pants," he said, and clapped my shoulder, and started walking back to Brianna. With how warm my face suddenly was, I was almost certain I was blushing.

"Fuck you!" I said, though I was laughing. Some people looked at me weird, but I ignored them. He turned back to me and gave me a shit-eating grin and then walked back over to Brianna. I followed him back.

"So, yeah. You can come if you want to," I said.

She smiled. "Great! I was hoping that this wouldn't be the last I would get to see of Tina. She's so adorable, wow! You're so lucky."

By now, Ciri looked like she was fuming. I noticed Tina's smirk, and watched as she rubbed up even more against Brianna- if anything, just to spite the Nintetails. Tina stuck her tongue out at her.

"Larv, Larv. Larv!" Tina said. She didn't seem too emotional, but she said the words- whatever she was saying- firmly. Probably trying to get a point across.

"Niiiiinetails," Ciri drawled. She glared at Tina.

Tina only rubbed up against Brianna even more, and Ciri let out a weird noise that sounded a lot like the fox version of an angry yell. She opened her mouth and spat a small blast of fire at Tina- who was surprised by it, but held her ground. It battered against her, but as soon as the fire went away, I didn't really see any change. The area that the fire hit was hardly darkened. Tina seemed proud of that fact, and stuck her tongue out at Ciri.

Brianna gasped.

"Ciri, we do not do that!"

Tina made a choking noise. She breathed in like she was coughing up a…

Loogie?

Then she- oh my god, that's disgusting- she retched up a little ball of what I guessed was mud, into her paw, and threw it at Ciri. It hit her right in the muzzle, and Ciri squealed.

"Tina!" I scolded, though I couldn't help but laugh at it. There was no real intensity in my discipline. Tina didn't look like she was sorry, anyway- she was too bust laughing her lungs out on the ground, holding her sides.

I managed to point to the furious Ciri through my laughter.

"I-I think she's a little jealous, Brianna!"

She frowned at Tina.

"Yeah, I can tell. Tina didn't have to do that, though. This'll stain her coat for days! I'll have to give her a bath now, before we leave!"

She pulled out a little handkerchief from her pocket, and started tending to Ciri's face.

Jack was laughing pretty hard to the side. It was funny, I couldn't lie- Tina's rolling form on the floor, and the Ninetails spitting out little bits of mud and growling.

"There's really no point for that. She'll just get dirty again in the wild," I said.

"I know," Brianna grumbled, "but I like it when she looks pretty!"

She kept wiping at Ciri's muzzle with a cloth- and it was removing most of the filth. She'd gotten most of the puke-mud off of Ciri's face, before she stood up and pocketed the handkerchief. Brianna stroked Ciri's head, and she nuzzled into the hand, and she stopped growling. I guess since she'd finally gotten what she wanted, she didn't care as much about the puke-mud anymore.

Brianna drew a Pokeball from her pocket and recalled Ciri abruptly.

By now, Tina had recovered from her terrible laughter fit, and was now standing back on her two little stubby feet. Jack was still chuckling, but he quieted once Brianna spoke again.

"So, since you said you were leaving today, where should we meet back up?"

"You know the little small gate at the southern entrance of town?" I asked.

"Yeah, sure. Meet you there?"

"Yeah. What time is it right now- wait, actually, give me a second," I said.

"I never caught your name, you know," Brianna said.

"Oh, yeah. Sorry. It's Daniel," I said.

I fumbled around in my pockets for a minute before I found the phone that Hank had given me, and I took it out of my pocket. I flipped it open momentarily, glanced at the time, and then shut it and put it away just as quickly.

"How long do you think you'll need to get ready?" I asked.

"Not much longer than an hour or two, probably," Brianna said.

"Alright, then, meet me and Jack in front of that gate in two hours, okay?"

Brianna was already sprinting out of the marketplace.

She called back to me before she turned a corner and ran out of sight.

"I'll be there!"

Jack and I watched her depart.

"Nice girl," he said.

"Yeah, she is." I replied.

We stood there for a moment more before I grinned and squatted, patting Tina on the head. She cried with cheer and buried her fin into my hand- and it hurt a little, digging into my flesh like that, but I didn't pull it away.

"You little prankster. I can't believe you did that," I said.

She only smiled, showing her black teeth, and kept nuzzling into my hand.

"Do you want to go in the Pokeball, or out?" I asked. I held the ball out in my hand.

She pointed to the ball and crossed her stubby arms like an X.

"Okay," I said. I shrunk and pocketed the ball, and Jack, Tina and I started walking around and buying the rest of the stuff we'd need for the trip.

What we needed next was backpacks.

I bought basic brown bags for Jack and I. There were plenty of bags to choose from- ones with more space, different colors, designs and every other little thing that you could think of, but I didn't need to be wasting money on stupid things like that. I had only a little left, and I knew that I'd have to spend the rest on supplies to use while we were inside the wild. So it was just two brown bags, and that was it.

The bags fit us well, at least. They were probably as large as my backpack for home had been, maybe a little bigger, and were really spacious on the inside. I noticed that everything in this world seemed really durable- the clothes, the bags… everything. I figured that they'd just made fabrics and materials here stronger because of Pokemon. It made sense to me. Stuff would get ruined too easily if it wasn't strong enough to stand up to the wilds.

Once we'd bought our backpacks, I looked around in the same store for food. I was in a store that was a lot like a camping store- except almost everybody did it here, and they were way more common. There were probably four or five of these kinds of stores alone in the marketplace. I knew exactly what kind of food I should take.

I never attended Boy Scouts, or ever went camping or anything like that, but I wasn't dumb. I had some common sense, and I knew what we'd need out there. It wasn't extremely deadly in an area like this, but you had to be prepared. I was going to buy strictly nonperishables. Mostly things like jerky and bottled water, not much else. There was no point in buying ingredients to cook things, they'd spoil- and junk food was a bad idea too, because it wouldn't energize you enough.

Even though some of the junk food here looked really appetizing. I remember seeing a box for some kind of cracker or something like that-Pokecrackers. Pokemon Gum, cupcakes, chocolate- they had all kinds of stuff. All of it, unhealthy. I ignored it and instead bought a bunch of jerky packs, and a bunch of bottled water, too. It was pretty heavy- the water was, at least. Jack and I split the weight between the two of us.

I looked at one of the jerky packs as I was putting it in the bag.

"Hey, man, do you ever think they eat Pokemon around here?" I asked.

"I… don't know," Jack admitted, as he shoved three water bottles in his pack.

"Why?"

"Tauros Jerky, that's why," I announced, showing him the front of the pack.

It showed a picture of a Tauros, with some sort of thumbs up sign- like that made it okay to eat. I just shook my head and put it away. I wasn't sure how I felt about eating something like a Pokemon. I guess I'd already done it before- I was pretty sure Hank had been eating the exact same brand, and we'd both had some when we were in the forest when we'd first gotten here- but still, it seemed wrong to eat something that could think for itself.

The difference between eating beef from home and beef from here was that beef from home was stupid. Bulls and cows are just dumb, pretty much, and they hardly have any idea what's going on. Milktank and Tauros, though? I assume that they have feelings and everything else, which makes eating them seem… cruel. I wouldn't like anyone to eat me, just because they were in the more dominant position.

It wasn't cannibalism, but still…

I figured that I had to do it, anyway, so I ignored it, as best as I could. They were still animals, even if they had feelings and thoughts. Then again, so was I, and Jack, and Brianna and Hank and everyone else I'd ever met. The only difference was that I had clothes on and was part of a society. Did that give me the right to be arrogant and act like the Tauros was below me- and thus, I was allowed to eat it?

I was getting to into it- thinking too deeply on this.

I tried to put it out of my mind.

"They might have regular cattle here," Jack said. "It could be just for advertisement purposes. It doesn't mean that they actually eat Tauros and Milktank around here."

"Yeah, I guess so," I mumbled. I just shoved the jerky in my bag.

Once we'd finished packing, I walked with Jack and we went to the southern gate of the city, the one we'd entered when we first came into town. We leaned against the wall and talked while we were waiting on Brianna to show up.

"Well, we'll have to battle for more money, now," I said.

"How much do we have left?" Jack asked. I shoved my hand in my pocket and curled my hand around the two or three bills that remained. I drug them out of my pocket and showed them to Jack. He frowned.

"Not much, huh?" He asked.

"From what I can tell, no. I still don't fully understand the system the money uses around here, but yeah, not much left. We might have to pick a few battles for money," I said.

"That doesn't sound like too much trouble. To be honest, I'm kinda excited to battle," Jack said. He grinned.

"Yeah, the first one I had was pretty fun. That was just against some kid, though. We probably shouldn't pick ones against people that look like they know what they're doing."

"You make it sound like we're bullies or something," Jack said, chuckling.

"Well, we aren't going to win against experienced trainers. I think we both know that. It's best to just win some easy fights and get money so we don't have to worry for now. If we want to really challenge ourselves, we can do that later," I pointed out.

"Yeah, I guess," Jack said. "Sounds like an easy battle would be boring, though."

"Trust me, it's not," I said.

"It's too bad that Terry and Matt aren't here," Jack said. "They would've loved this."

That cut me deep.

"Yeah, they would've." Anyone listening could hear the sorrow in my voice. I wasn't really concealing it well. Whether I wanted attention, or just didn't care, I don't know.

Jack noticed it.

"What's wrong, man?"

"I've just been thinking… what if Terry and Matt didn't survive the way here? We landed in the same spot. Why weren't Terry and Matt there? They could've easily died, or been sent to a different world, or… something else, I don't know," I said.

Jack frowned.

"Dude, don't think like that. That's not what happened."

"HOW DO YOU KNOW!?" I shouted at him.

People that near where we were standing stared at us. Jack stared at me, confusion strewn across his face. He didn't see where this was coming from, obviously.

I'd show him, though.

"I-"

"No, no, REALLY, I want to know how you know. Please explain to me how you know that Matt and Terry aren't dead. In case you haven't realized, the longer it goes without seeing them or hearing about them, the more likely it is that they're gone!"

Jack didn't say anything, and neither did anyone that was near us. They obviously didn't want to get involved in the argument.

"That's what I thought. I've been worrying about it for the past few days," I admitted.

"You think I haven't?" Jack grumbled. I sighed.

"Sorry," I said.

Jack waved a hand. "Nah, it's okay, man. I get where you're coming from. This whole thing is pretty stressful. I just hope that phone of yours rings soon," he said.

"Yeah, me too," I said. I wasn't feeling it, though. I was trying not to let that thought get to me, but it kept coming back- the idea that Matt and Terry were dead. The worst part about it was that it wasn't even an unrealistic thing. If anything, it was actually more than likely that it had actually happened. I could only hope that it hadn't, and just wait for that phone to ring.

Just wait for that phone to ring.

Jack and I didn't speak much more while we were waiting for Brianna to show up. I wanted to release Tina from her Pokeball, but I thought better of it. She still needed to rest, and since she'd be fighting in the wild, she needed all the rest that she could get. I decided not to wake her up, and just left her in her Pokeball, instead.

Soon enough, Brianna approached. She came sprinting around a corner in the same clothes she'd left us in, but she had a bag that reminded me of Dawn's from the anime- over the shoulder. She had a loose belt around her waist with just one Pokeball- Ciri's, I'm guessing- contained within it. But none of these things was the most interesting.

No, what was the most interesting was the device that she had in her hand. It reminded me of a smartphone, almost. She was poking at it with one finger as she ran towards us. The cover on the outside was red, and it had a portion that flipped out, sort of like how a couch bed folds out. As I looked at it more, I thought I recognized something about it.

I elbowed Jack in the side. He looked up from the ground. I pointed ahead.

"Oh, hey, it's Brianna," he said. He grinned.

"Finally, we don't have to wait anymore."

"Yeah, that's good," I said, "But look at what she has in her hands."

He squinted. She was still fairly far away, even though she was coming closer, and it was a little hard to tell. I didn't blame him for having to take a second look. After a few seconds, he spoke.

"Is that a… is that a phone?" He asked.

"No, that's what I thought at first. But I think it might be something else. Look harder."

He did.

"Wait, does she have a PokeDex? That's what I'm seeing right now," he said.

"Yeah, I think so," I said. "Hasn't that been bothering you? I haven't seen one in public yet. It was one of the first things that I expected when I first got here."

"Yeah, I remember thinking I was going to see one right away," Jack admitted. "And you're right, now that I think about it. Every trainer I've seen so far- even though it's only been a few, Hank, that guy with the Fearow, and a couple others- they've had Pokeballs, but not the PokeDex."

Brianna breathed hard and wheezed a little as she finally arrived at the gate.

"S-sorry I took so long. The run was longer than I thought and I had to start walking half-way through. Plus I had to get a lot of stuff. I'm here now, though."

"Cool, we're going to leave soon," I said. "What's that you have there?"

"Oh, it's my PokeDex," Brianna said, nonchalant about the whole thing.

"Never seen one of those yet," I said. "What's the deal with them?"

"What do you mean you've never seen one yet?" She asked. She seemed surprised by the very suggestion.

"I haven't," I said. "Like I said, I'm new at training. I've seen a few trainers in public, but they never had a PokeDex out. Why is that?"

"I don't know. That's really weird. It's not that hard to get a PokeDex, honestly. It used to be more common, but these days, people just don't get them as much because in trainer schools, these days, they study Pokemon types and species a lot harder. There's less reason to have a PokeDex if you know what you're catching," Brianna said.

That was the weirdest thing yet. Out of everything- a huge fox, a little rock monster that I owned, and everything I'd seen so far- PokeDexes outdated? I almost couldn't believe it.

Jack was just as flabbergasted, but managed to keep our cover, and closed his mouth as fast as it had opened. His jaw wasn't touching the floor now, at least. I coughed.

"Well, that's interesting. You're ready to leave, right?" I asked.

"Yep, I'm ready!" Brianna said.

"Alright, let's go," I said.

We left the entrance of the town and started venturing out into the wilderness again. This time, there was much less fear, less trepidation, than before. My heavy backpack weighed me down a bit, but it was a good weight- I felt glad that I was carrying it with me. There was only excitement and an anxiousness to get out into the wilderness, now.

There were plenty of things I wanted to do, and now that I'd gotten started, they were going to be possible.

I wanted to train Tina to be stronger. I wanted to catch Jack a Pokemon, and I wanted to see what this area had to offer in terms of other Pokemon. Not to mention I wanted to do all of these things with Brianna here with me. While I hadn't known her for very long, I figured that it would be a great chance to get to know her. Plus, like I'd already mentioned, it felt much better, not to mention safer, to travel and train with numbers, even if that did mean we had to bring more rations and share our catches more.

We left a little while before sunset- around five or six in the late afternoon, or early evening. We'd passed plenty of Rattata or Pidgey on the way, but none had really tried to battle us, save one that was easily defeated by Tina the second I released her. We didn't bother stopping for them. Jack didn't want a weak Pokemon, and I certainly hadn't seen anything rare enough to warrant me capturing it.

We eventually stopped when it started to get too dark to do anything else but sleep. It didn't take long to build a fire pit and get ready to sleep- we had advantages in our little group of ours. I released Tina and had her gather stones from underground. It only took her a few minutes to come up with a few armfuls, easily enough to stop the fire from going beyond where we wanted it. Jack and Brianna had been gathering twigs and other firewood.

Once the wood was placed in the center, she released Ciri, who spat a small plume of flame into the wood. It ignited, and within moments, we had a roaring fire. Brianna put her Pokeball away, but didn't bother recalling Ciri. Ciri curled up around her and wrapped some of her tails around Brianna's legs. She gave a faint cry and put her head between her paws, and started napping.

Brianna only sighed. She'd already set up her sleeping bag, so she didn't really have to move, but she didn't get inside the bag, only laid on the top of it so she wasn't sleeping on the cold, hard ground. I'd been petting Tina for a little while now.

"Larv," She said. I could tell she was hungry, though. The way she eyed the dirt betrayed her feelings. I let her go, and she walked for a bit. She got as far as perhaps twenty or thirty steps away from the camp before she couldn't hold it anymore, and started devouring the dirt. She shoved her whole body, face first, into the soil, and disappeared within a second or two.

I shook my head, grinning. Jack caught this and smiled. We were already both inside our sleeping bags. Ciri and Brianna were already asleep. It was probably around ten, or maybe ten thirty, and it was pretty dark, though the stars looked beautiful.

"Have you thought about what kind of Pokemon you want?" I asked.

"I don't know," he admitted. "Nothing normal, though. I want something that's either rare, or something that has a decent evolution line. It doesn't have to be amazing, though. I don't think we'll get that lucky right away, anyway," he said.

"You're right, we probably won't," I said. "Tina was by chance. I don't think that's going to happen again for a good while," I said. That brought another thought to my mind.

"That is one thing that I wished I knew about this place," I admitted.

"What?" Jack asked.

"Things like the best training spots, the best spots to catch rare Pokemon… that sort of thing. It would be really good to know that kind of stuff. I wonder if the PokeDex has that kind of knowledge. We should ask Brianna how much she knows about this tomorrow."

"Definitely," Jack said, agreeing, but he was already yawning. He turned over and within a few minutes he was already snoring. It took me a little while longer to fall asleep, though. I was really excited for the morning. I knew that it was going to be good.

Eventually though, I passed out, in the darkness.

XxXxXxXx

I woke up first, and Jack and Briana followed. I found Tina right next to me, with her paws and her mouth practically covered in dirt. Not all of her body was, but I saw little areas here and there where soil had been. She'd cleaned herself off, just not perfectly.

Ciri was the last to wake up, as spoiled as she was. She took her sweet time getting off the ground and shaking dirt and little leaves out of her furry tails. It took her a few minutes- a few minutes that Jack, Tina and I spent impatiently waiting. When she was finally ready to go, we wasted no time, setting out.

Once we were walking, I decided that that was the best time to ask Brianna about what Jack and I had talked about last night.

"Hey, Brianna," I said.

Her head turned upwards, and stopped looking at the ground.

"Hmm? What?" She asked.

"Jack and I, like I said before, are pretty new at training… what do you know about finding rare Pokemon?" I asked.

"Well, finding Pokemon is more about endurance and just sticking with it, more than anything else. They're called rare Pokemon for a reason. They're not exactly easy to find."

"Right," I said, though I tried to keep the sadness out of my voice. I had honestly been hoping for better advice than that. I figured that it didn't matter, and we'd eventually find what we wanted just by looking. In the meantime, though, it might've been a good idea to try to look in better places.

"The PokeDex has maps, doesn't it?" I asked.

"Yeah, why?" Brianna asked.

"I have an idea," I said. I took the PokeDex from her, when she held it up, and after getting familiar with it after a few minutes, scrolled through the navigation system until I found local maps for this area. There was a cave nearby. That'd probably be a good place to look.

I thought about it, though. Thinking about it more, I wasn't sure I wanted to go into a cave with only a Larvitar and a Ninetails to help me. It sounded suicidal in a way- and the more I thought about it, the more ridiculous it sounded. There could be really dangerous Pokemon in there, ones that I wasn't ready to handle. The cave only reminded me of Zubats, besides, and that was one thing that I didn't want to test in this world- if the number of fucking Zubats in a cave was infinite or not.

"Nevermind," I said, handing the PokeDex back to Brianna. She looked confused, but didn't say anything, and twirled one strand of her fiery red hair around her finger as we continued walking. We weren't really looking as hard as we could, though I wasn't sure that we wanted to look for Pokemon in a place like this, anyway.

It was around noontime when I finally got sick of walking.

"We should start looking, now. We're deep enough in the forest that we should be able to find some decent Pokemon, now," I said.

Jack and Brianna nodded.

"Let's get looking," I said.

XxXxXxXx

It had been a little over an hour of looking, and with little to show for it. Pidgey, Rattata, Caterpie, and Weedle, too. Nothing worth actually catching. What, were these the only Pokemon that inhabited the planet or something? It sure fucking felt like it. Jack and I were starting to get impatient- though Brianna looked less so. She'd probably been through this before. She had said she'd tried training before, so it wasn't a surprise.

"Reep!"

Jack and I instantly whirled our heads. That wasn't any kind of call we were used to. It could've been something different! We practically tripped over our own feet running towards the noise. Tina was right beside us, charging with us, and Brianna and Ciri lagged behind.

"Wait up!" She called after us. We were too excited, though. Finally, something to catch.

"Reep!"

I was almost certain of what it was now, but still, we continued chasing it. It was a decent catch, anyway, and certainly something that would be good enough for Jack to start with. We heard the noise one more time- this time, much close to us- and followed it.

We turned around the corner, and saw a Mareep. It had just finished scaring away a Ratatta that had wanted some of its food. It was a lot like it looked in the games and the anime, only a little taller, probably a little under two feet. Its head would probably be a little above my knees, probably at around my thighs for height level.

It had creamy wool that almost looked a little yellow, but was mostly white. What I could see of its face, and its four legs, the rest of it was blue. It had a little cute tail that stuck out behind it, yellow and black stripes adorning it, with a red ball at the end. Two black and yellow striped horns jutted out of either side of its head, and I wondered how it could hear.

It hadn't noticed us yet, because we'd been mostly quiet. I figured that with Tina, this would not only be an easy catch, but ridiculously easy. Tina stood by me, waiting for a command. I spoke in a tone barely above a whisper. I didn't want to alert the Mareep.

"Get ready to toss it," I said, referring to the Pokeball that was already out and enlarged in Jack's hand. He nodded, and I spoke to Tina now. I motioned towards the Mareep.

"Use Dig, and hit it from under it. Once you do that, follow up with a tackle. Remember, you have the advantage," I reminded her, "it's electric and you're rock/ground, not to mention extremely hard to boot. It shouldn't be able to do anything to you."

"Larv," Tina whispered.

Tina waited a moment. The Mareep looked to be eating- it sniffed at some berries, and ate a couple, grinding them up into juicy pulp with its teeth. It was so slow- you'd think that everything in its life moved at a fourth of the speed of everything else. That was good, though. All that meant was that it would be an easy catch.

Tina shoved her paws in the soil, and started digging. In seconds, she was gone. All that was left was a small hole to show she'd even been there in the first place. She was good, I had to admit, even though there were small sounds of her digging, she was incredibly quiet, and it didn't look she was giving anything away. The Mareep continued to eat berries, slowly, mechanically. Its tail twitched, but other than that, it still didn't move.

No, it stayed still, right until Tina jumped out from under it. She shot out of the ground like a cannonball and slammed into the underside of the Mareep, right into its stomach. Based on its face, I could tell that it certainly hadn't been expecting this.

It didn't knock out immediately though, which was good points in its favor. It was clearly stronger than the average Mareep if it could take a dig without instantly knocking out- even though it was breathing heavily and glaring at both us and Tina.

Its horns sparked, but then they stopped almost immediately as they started. It had considered using some sort of Electric type move, but then had thought against it. Good decision from it, too, because Tina was completely invulnerable to that type, and it would just be wasting energy to try to attack with that type.

Instead, it attempted to throw its adorable, fluffy body at Tina. Despite the fact that it was taller and wider, it was still much, much lighter, weight wise. Tina was still much denser. I heard Tina grunt as she was slammed by the sheep, but I was almost sure that it wasn't going to do much to her. This was one of the best fights that I could've hoped for- an easy catch, with little to no risk to my own Pokemon. Plus, the Pokemon we were catching was pretty good, anyway, once evolved. It was just at a horrible disadvantage right now.

One thing, though.

Tina was slow.

This was only the first time that it showed just how much of an amateur I was.

Once it had realized just how much of a disadvantage it had, the Mareep did the smart simple thing- turned its tail, and ran. Ran away. Tina cried in disbelief at the cowardice, but that did nothing to make it come back. It scampered through the bushes, and disappeared.

Jack slapped his leg.

"Damn it!"

"Lame," I said.

"You should've thrown the Pokeball earlier," Brianna pointed out.

"Yeah, I know," Jack said. He sighed.

"I'm not done," I said. Jack and Brianna looked to me, and so did Tina. She followed me as I started sprinting after it. Jack and Brianna called after me, but I ignored them. I wasn't letting the thing get away that easily.

"Let go!"

I looked back momentarily. Jack had somehow gotten his entire lower leg stuck in some vines and brush. It looked like it'd take a while to get it out. I didn't have the time to stop. Brianna was barely keeping up with me as it was, with Tina right behind me. Ciri had been recalled because she was being too slow. I watched as Brianna put the ball back on her waist and continued sprinting.

"Don't worry, Jack!" I yelled. "It's not going to get away!"

It got away.  
That damn thing led us on a wild goose chase for hours. A few minutes after he'd gotten trapped, Jack had managed to catch up with us, but this didn't really change anything. It did give us an extra pair of eyes to keep watch for the Mareep, but that didn't mean that we caught it. We saw it approximately twice, and that only made it more scared. I had always thought sheep were supposed to be slow. They clearly weren't, here.

It was much later when we decided to call it quits. I hadn't really expected that to happen. Even Tina had started to get tired by the time we had finally stopped.

"Fucking… thing…" I said. I could barely breathe.

Brianna, Jack, Tina and I were sitting in a clearing we'd found a little ways back. We were going to rest here, and then try again. Maybe we wouldn't find it, but we were too tired for now. There was no point.

Jack rested across the clearing from me. He was covered in sweat, as we all were.

"Hey, Daniel?" He asked.

"Yeah?"

"That Mareep… had high Speed IV's," he said.

I grinned at him.

"Stop being stupid, man."

He just smiled back at me and chuckled.

Brianna only looked between the two of us, confused.

"What are you talking about?" She asked.

"Just an inside joke between the two of us," I said.

Tina wasn't even making any noise, even though I thought she should've been choking with how much dirt she was eating. The chase had taken a lot of energy out of her. While she was stout and strong, she was not the most mobile, only really able to get great speed in short bursts, using her own strength. She had only even lasted running that long with us because of her own endurance. Now she was eating her fill of soil, and creating tunnels that cities could probably be built inside of.

There were huge, heaping piles of dirt next to the pit she'd dug herself. It had to be a few feet across, at least, and really, really deep. I'd always made sure to make her cover it up, though, when she was done eating, if the holes were deep enough to be dangerous. I didn't want anyone walking around out here after we'd left, and setting foot to where there should've been ground, but wasn't, and falling in and breaking bones or getting killed.

Tina jumped out, and almost like a dog, started shoveling the dirt back into the hole. It was little more than a small hole now, which was good enough for me. She spent some time licking the soil off of her stubby arms, and then she plopped down onto the ground, on her back, and belched. I looked at her red stomach while I had the opportunity.

It was really looking better. It had almost looked like she'd never gotten into a fight in the first place. It didn't look like it was affecting her at all, now. I didn't have a doubt in my mind that she was better now, which was good.

It must've been around four or five in the afternoon, now. It was ridiculous how long we'd spent chasing that thing. I was starting to wonder if it was even worth trying to catch. We might only waste more time doing it.

Screw it.

"I think we should look for it one last time," I said.

Jack was a lot less confident than I was.

"Are you crazy, man? Did you see how long it ran for? There's no way we can catch that thing," he said. He was still pretty amused by the whole thing, but I could tell that it had also hurt his pride, even if only a little bit.

"I think we should try again," I repeated. "Anything worth doing takes a lot of work and determination. The best things in the world weren't made by quitters," I said.

"Says Steve Jobs and Mark Zuckerberg," Jack drawled.

"Shut up, Jack. Do you want a Pokemon, or not?" I asked him.

"Who's Steve Jobs and Mark Zuckerberg?" Brianna asked.

"No one important, just people who quit schooling but were successful later," I said. "It doesn't validate Jack's point, though, no matter how much he wants it to. C'mon, get up," I said, pointing to Jack, Brianna, and then motioned to Tina.

"We're going to take it slow this time, find it, and we aren't going to give it the chance to get away. I know we can do it," I said.

Through a lot of grumping and groaning- a fair share of it coming from Brianna of all people, who was tired- I managed to get everyone moving again. Tina, once she'd started moving, had picked up speed and kept up with the rest of us. I'd expected her to be bloated after eating so much dirt, but nope. She wasn't.

We moved as fast as we could without making too much noise. We didn't want to scare off the Mareep again. This time, I wasn't going to let it get away. For sure, it was getting caught. It wasn't even about Jack's pride, or getting him a Pokemon anymore, as much as it was about my pride. Mareep was supposed to be an easy catch, and I'd failed at it, abysmally.

Not for long.

Two hours after we'd started looking, we managed to find it. It looked tired, probably from having ran for so long, and was eating berries, as it had been before. We crouched behind a few bushes and got as close as we could.

"Alright, Daniel. What's the plan?" He seemed more enthusiastic now than he had been the entire second search. It had become worth it to him, obviously, because we'd actually managed to find it again.

"The plan is beating it into submission and then catching it," I said. "It isn't getting away." I motioned to Tina.

"Alright, just like last time," I told her. I almost felt bad about what I was going to say next. "Only, this time, don't let it get up. Keep hitting it when it's down."

Tina looked confused, and, for the first time, looked disobedient.

She glared at me.

She muttered a few words in her own language. She didn't move. I could tell that she didn't want to do it that way.

"Look, we're only doing it this way because you're too slow to catch it," I whispered. That hit home. She looked away, and I could see the sadness in her eyes. She thought I was disappointed. I shook my head. I hadn't intended to sound mean.

"Tina, it's not your fault. You're not built for extreme quickness or anything. You hit hard, and if it would stand and fight, you'd win, easily. So just don't let it use its speed to its advantage. It isn't even going to be lasting damage," I said. "This is just making sure that we can catch it. It isn't being mean or cruel. Besides, then you'll have someone else to talk to. Someone else on the team," I said.

She didn't look completely cheerful about the idea, but she seemed accepting of it, at least. She turned her eyes towards me, and they were hardened. She gave a low, firm noise.

"Larv," she said. She steeled herself. She was hard, she was confident.

She went.

She dove into the ground and tunneled through, destroying and eating soil and rock along the way. I'd noticed that she'd been getting better and better at it as time went on. She was faster at digging than she had been when I first met her. I guess that made sense, though. She was getting older and stronger, after all.

She burst out of the ground, just like the first time, and slammed into its stomach. I had to wince as I watched it. Ouch. Her belly had to be sore by now from that happening twice in one day. It had to be, because the wind was completely knocked out of it. It tried to get up twice, and failed. It eventually managed to get to its feet, and turned to run-

Boom, again, from the other side. Tina slammed into its right side and tackled it to the ground. It growled at her and tried to bite, and at the same time, tried to use its larger form to its advantage. It attempted to wrestle Tina to the ground, but she wasn't going to have any of it. It only got in one good blow with its body before she hit it again, hard, from the front.

"Jack, now!" I yelled.

"Right!" He said. He took the Pokeball out of his pocket, enlarged it, and chucked it. It sailed past the trees and the brush and the leaves, and everything else, and eventually found its mark right on the head of the Mareep. Tina sat on top of it, pushing it down with her weight. I knew that it was trapped. It couldn't move.

The Pokeball smacked into its head and turned the Mareep into red light, sucking it inside. We waited with bated breath, and I held a ball in my hand, just in case. Just in case it got out. I refused to let it escape. It was really Jack's first catch, but it was also mine, in a way. One of my first and I refused to let myself, or Jack, fail.

Tina stood in front of the ball as it shook, and stared at it.

One shake, two shakes, three, and four.

It stopped moving, and stayed still, and silent.

Jack moved forward, slowly, trembling, and picked up the ball in his hands.

"Thanks, Daniel," he said, as he held the ball in his hands.

"No problem. It was fun, anyway," I said.

"Finally," Brianna sighed. "Now, can we take a break? I'm exhausted."

"Sure," I said. "Let's make camp here for the night. We could spend a few nights out here if you want to. I still want to try to catch another for myself, and I'm sure Jack would, too. Right, Jack?" I asked.

He was still staring at the ball in his hands, but he managed a nod.

"See? What about you? Don't you want to try to catch anything?"

"Maybe," she said. She didn't really sound into it.

"Sleep on it. We can do it tomorrow if you feel like it," I offered.

She perked up at this. Maybe she really was just tired.

"Sure. Maybe tomorrow," she said.

We spent an hour or two making a nice camp for the night. It wasn't long before everything was set up and we were laying in our sleeping bags. It was probably only eight, maybe eight thirty, but we wanted to get up early in the morning and get a good start on the day. I really wanted to see what else we could catch around here.

I really wanted to.

I never had expected such a rush to come from training.

I had expected it to be fun- to be interesting- engaging, even. But never this… rush, that I'd gotten. Today was probably considered boring to most trainers, especially ones that had been doing this for years. They'd grown up with Pokemon, though. I had, but in a different way. Even as a child, I had always understood that they were something not real, fictional, fake.

It wasn't like that anymore.

Another thought that came to mind was Brianna. She'd said she wanted to give training a second try. It didn't make much sense to me, then, that she had been so passive about catching another Pokemon. She seemed in love with Ciri- petting her, singing to her. Wouldn't she want more friends?

I guess she was just doing this casually, for fun. Maybe she'd gotten the gist that Jack and I were starting to take it more seriously, no matter how big of newbies we were at it.

The last thought that I had before falling asleep, though, was more disconcerting. I thought about the battle between the beasts that I'd seen- the beasts that Jack had said were Palkia and Dialga.

What if he was right?

What did that mean for us, then? They were gods. I wasn't sure how we were going to get back. They probably weren't catchable- and from what we knew in the anime and the games, they were probably so rare you'd be lucky to see them once in your life.

And even if he was wrong, that was, in a way, even worse. Then we had nothing, knew nothing, and had nowhere to go with no goal to follow.

I felt around in my pants for the phone Hank had given me. I held it in my hand.

I'd just have to wait on the news from him, and go from there.

Until then…

I glanced at Tina's sleeping form, near the campfire, almost right next to me.

I'd pursue my interests.

**Chapter Two done, folks. It's not really edited, but my grammar and spelling is usually pretty good, so I figure I'll just get it out there. If there's some really bad error, make sure to point it out in a review, and I'll be sure to fix it.**

** I'll try to get the next chapter up faster, but no promises. The only promise I'm going to make is that the story will indeed be finished. If, for any reason, I one day stop posting for a huge amount of time, assume I got in a major accident, or died. And no, I'm not joking. I consider something like this a commitment to the reader- and, if you were nice enough to read my story, I should be nice enough to finish it, shouldn't I?**

** Review if you want to. I'm not going to tell you to, but yes, I'd like it.**

** Any questions or comments, anything like that, contact me through review or PM.**

** Thanks for reading. See you next chapter.**


	4. Chapter 3

I'd woken with the sunrise. Tina had already been up before me, and turned to me as I yawned, with a cry that barely escaped her mouth, which was full of dirt.

"Larvitar," she said. I nodded and patted her head. I was assuming she said something like 'good morning,' even if I couldn't actually know what she was saying.

The sun crested over the horizon, and it was a different rise than in my world. The sun seemed… brighter, for lack of a better word. Only slightly. Perhaps it was because there was less pollution in this world? I'd been noticing this more lately, even though the only man made place I'd visited so far was a small town.

Humans didn't to use fossil fuels here as much. They didn't burn as many fires, and the cars, I wasn't sure if they even used gasoline at all. Probably, but I hadn't seen a gas station yet.

There wasn't as much trash, or pollution, or anything like that. It was a positive, but it was only because of Pokemon.

I stroked Tina's head, and she rumbled in her throat, like a purr, only much rougher. I was always waking up earlier. It sucked, because I'd rather be sleeping in. But once I woke up in the morning, it was really hard to go back to bed. So I just stayed up inside of sitting and bed and doing basically nothing.

"We should go train, Tina!" I said, with enthusiasm.

She gave a loud cry of agreement, and I heard Brianna and Jack shifting in their sleeping bags a few feet away.

"Maybe not here, though," I said, whispering. "We don't want to wake them up."

Tina nodded this time, without giving a loud cry. I smiled, and we began to walk away from the camp, together. The forest was semi humid, and even this early in the morning, the air was warm and wet. I was starting to sweat. I wiped it from my forward, and strode forward through the bush and the vines of the forest. I walked for a few minutes in silence through the forest. My only real obstacles were the land itself, right now.

The land was my only obstacle, until I heard a shrill cry from above and behind me.

I and Tina turned at the same time, and we saw a huge Pidgeotto. The thing was a giant for its species, based on the few ones that I had seen before. This was closer to a Pidgeot than a Pidgeotto, and the thing looked like it would be the toughest fight that I'd had out here in a while. We'd run into small, easy battles, but nothing like this.

It was scarred. It looked experienced, and mean. I'd probably stumbled onto its territory, or at least where it ate. As Tina and I stared it down, right before it flew off of the branch and charged us, it reminded me of something else, the Pinsir question on the exam for the training license that I'd had to take.

Should I fight this thing?

I was sure that I would be fine. I had the type advantage.

It let out a shriek, and flew off of the branch. Tina got ready. She tensed her body- and every part of her body was shaking with power, her arms and legs, her head, and her torso. She prepared herself. The Pidgeotto got closer, and once she thought it was close enough, Tina leapt from the ground and launched herself at the bird.

It didn't go down as easily as we thought it would, however. It turned in mid air and cawed back at Tina as she fell down to the earth. She'd missed completely. The Pidgeotto made a turn and started diving towards Tina. The Pidgeotto picked up speed as it raced faster through the air towards Tina's body.

"Dodge!" I yelled.

Tina nodded and tumbled to the side, narrowly avoiding the huge beak that plowed into the ground as the Pidgeotto flew past. It shrieked at Tina again, and I struggled to think of a strategy, any strategy, that would help us here. There wasn't much to use, though. I knew that she was lacking in moves- it was one of the main problems that she had with battling. When it came to attacks, she was very limited, and she wasn't the fastest, either.

The tackle she had tried had failed spectacularly, and I had a feeling that other moves like that would only end in the same way- with the Pidgeotto dodging, and then leaving Tina open for a free hit. A hit she didn't need to take- and a hit I didn't want her taking, either. I had Sandstorm, but I figure that unlike the Machop, the Pidgeotto could just fly out of it. It would be less than ineffective. It wouldn't do anything.

Rock Slide or Ancient Power were the only real choices that I had here.

So I decided to use them.

"Tina, use Rock Slide!" I cried. Tina nodded to me, and directed her to attention the Pidgeotto. She lifted her stubby arms to the air, like she was calling for rain. I watched her frame shudder, and slowly, rocks as big as my head ripped themselves out of the ground. There had to be at least ten of them, maybe more. She squirmed as she stood, and I saw how hard it was for her to control the attack. We'd have to work on that.

She launched the attack, and I watched as the Pidgeotto tried to swerve to the right, but the rocks were like shotgun pellets- spread out. One managed to nail it hard, right in its torso. Contrary to what I was expecting, it didn't go down. It was clearly hurt, but that didn't mean it was done, either. The same couldn't be said for Tina. Though I had no doubt she probably couldn't be hurt too badly by the bird, the same couldn't be said for her stamina. She was already breathing hard.

"Do it one more time, Tina," I said. "It should be enough, then."

Tina nodded and said, "Larv. Laaaaaarv…"

Once more, the paws were raised to the air.

The Pidgeotto wasn't going to allow it that easily, though. The second Tina started for it, she began to dive. She wasn't going to let her have the time she needed to concentrate on the attack. Smart bird, but I had an idea for that.

"Tina! Don't form so many, just a few! Cut down on the time as much as you can!"

Tina gritted her black teeth and raised her arms higher. This time, instead of more than ten, it was just three. I suspected this would be both faster, and easier for her to control. It'd probably be more effective, too. I waited to see what would happen.

They moved WAY faster. I could scarcely keep track of them as they slammed into Pidgeotto from all three sides. Both wings were hit by one each, and one from below slammed into its stomach. It fell hard, and crashed into the ground, moaning.

It gurgled. Ouch. Maybe we'd been a bit hard on it.

I watched as Tina panted. Despite the absurd advantage that Tina had, this thing had still made her work. She raised one paw to me, giving me what I figured was the Larvitar version of a thumbs up, only, her entire paw was one large limb, so she just raised her arm and paw towards me. I gave her thumbs up back, with a smile.

The more I watched the bird move on the ground, the more I figured that it would be a good member for my team. My entire team didn't have to be rare Pokemon. Pidgeots were decent flying types, and with how strong of a Pidgeotto it seemed to be, it would probably work out. Before long, my mind was made up. I shoved a hand in my pocket and moved it around a bit before closing my fingers over the small, miniaturized ball. I brought it out of my pocket, and enlarged it, before tossing it at the head of the bird.

It was too exhausted and beaten to move, and so it took the ball to the beak. It drew the Pokemon inside, turning into glaring red light, before falling into the forest floor, crushing the grass beneath it. It continued rocking. Once, twice…

Darn!

It broke out. The ball opened up and the bird came back out again. It tried for flight.

"No! Don't let it! Tackle!"

I started running towards them.

I dove for the ball as Tina dove for the Pidgeotto. I had learned from Brianna that a Pokeball doesn't break upon failure of capture. She'd said that she wasn't surprised that was what we'd thought, because it was a well perpetuated myth.

I wasn't complaining.

I snapped the ball back together and turned. Tina leapt onto the Pidgeotto with a growl, and from there, it turned into an all out scrap.

The Pidgeotto went for Tina with her beak and talons, and Tina did the best she could to keep any small amount of distance she could and hit it with her momentum and her weight.

"Don't ever hit it with your full weight, Tina! Just wear it out!" I shouted.

She had no length in her arms, and no swing, so she couldn't punch. The one other attack she had was jumping and dropping her full weight on the Pidgeotto, but I didn't want her to do that.

That might hurt it too much, and I wanted to catch it, not maim it. I waited for Tina to get in another really good shot before I went for it. The Pidgeotto gave a shrill scream and lashed out with its claws, but it missed, and Tina got it hard in the side. I threw the ball again. I was fairly sure that this time it wasn't going to be able to get away.

It sucked the Pidgeotto inside. One shake, two, three, and click. It was done. I smiled and walked over, shrinking the ball before pocketing it. I sat down on the floor and got onto Tina's level. She was still breathing hard, and had little nicks and scratches in her body here and there, but besides that, she was fine. I petted her head, but I still looked at her body. I wanted to make sure she wasn't injured.

"Turn around," I said. She nodded, and I looked at her from behind. Everything was fine.

Satisfied, I rubbed the fin on her head again.

"You're not hurt. Good. You got a great workout, anyway. I think you're getting stronger," I said. I wasn't just saying it, either. There was a definite improvement, even if not gigantic, to her performance.

She got so proud that I thought maybe I shouldn't have told her that. The entire way back, she stuck her tiny little chest out and strode with an arrogant swagger, all the way until we got back to camp. I guess she just took compliments from me seriously. Despite how cocky it had made her, it had been adorable to watch her walk like that. It almost made up for it.

When we got back, they were still sleeping. That wasn't a surprise. We'd probably been gone for scarcely twenty or thirty minutes at most, maybe. They were curled up like a couple of Caterpies turning into Metapods. Horrible joke, but it didn't help that the sleeping bags we'd bought actually had Caterpie and Metapod designs on them. Tina plopped down into the dirt and started eating, immediately, though, like always, she was a good distance away from the camp to prevent anything from getting dirty.

I rested for a bit while I watched Tina stuff her face, and at the same time, I stuffed mine. I reached into my pack beside me and pulled out a bottle of water and got a package of some of the Tauros Jerky that I'd bought. I opened up the package, looked inside, and pulled out some Jerky. I started eating.

It was tough and chewy, and it took me a while to eat even a little bit of it. That wasn't even mentioning that the food didn't really taste that great, either. It was more for sustenance than anything else. I wasn't going to get a tasty dinner out here unless I killed and cooked a Pokemon. And that was something that I wasn't going to do, not if I could help it.

It would feel weird… sort of like cannibalism. They have thoughts and feelings too- not like cows or pigs or something. I mean, sure, animals from my world had feelings, but they weren't really… there. They could hardly think for themselves. Pokemon were much different. I could never think of eating Tina, for example.

While Tina and I were eating, Jack woke up.

He groaned as he slipped out his sleeping bag.

He waved to me and mumbled as he walked away from the camp.

"I'll be right back," he muttered. "Gotta piss."

I nodded to him as he walked away from the camp.

He came back a few minutes later.

He sat down next to me. I offered him some jerky and water. I'd already eaten my fill. I had gotten used to tearing up jerky, even if it was really tough and chewy, from my time with Hank. I could eat it pretty fast, without so much time eating breakfast. Tina, desperate to fill her bottomless pit of a stomach, was still devouring soil nonstop.

Jack grinned as he watched her.

He took a swig of his water.

"When do you think she'll stop eating like she's from Africa?" He asked.

"Maybe when you stop using offensive metaphors?" I offered.

"Oh, so never, then," he said.

"Smartass," I said, grinning.

His mouth was full, so he settled for shrugging his shoulders.

Tina had hardly paid attention to anything we were saying.

"You know why she eats that much, though, right? You remember the lore?" I asked.

Jack had a confused face for a moment, before recalling it.

"Yeah, I remember. She's preparing for her evolution, right? She's going to turn into a Pupitar. It's sort of weird how she has a bug like evolution, considering she's a living rock."

I'd never thought of it that way. That was actually weird. It showed just how twisted biology was in this world.

"Could you imagine taking a Pokemon biology class?" I asked.

He shuddered.

"Imagine how thick the damn book would be. This crap must be incredibly complicated, if they even understand half of what goes on in this world. Science and this place don't exactly mix," he said. I nodded. "I mean, from what we know, since the PokeDex exists here, obviously research exists. It's more of a question on how far along they are and how much they know about Pokemon. Things like that," he said.

"Yeah," I admitted. "It'd be interesting to look into that if we ever get the time. Even if it was all science talk and a bunch of mumbo jumbo that I could hardly read, it'd be cool to hear about what made Pokemon tick."

"Yeah, it would be cool. Like explanations on why a Charizard can breathe fire that melt rocks, and things like that. You've gotta figure that it would just ruin his throat," Jack said.

"All fire Pokemon are resistant to fire, though. Internally, even more, I think. It's the only reason they can even attack without hurting themselves," I said.

Jack only nodded and shrugged.

"Yeah, I guess it makes sense. It's just still all really weird to me. I don't know if I'll ever adjust to this," he admitted, laughing.

"You got that right," I said, sighing. "You're not alone in that, don't worry. This place is still incredibly weird to me, even if it's also cool."

Just then, I heard a pop and a cheer. Tina burst from the ground behind us and cried out. She looked bloated, like she'd eaten way too much. She moaned.

"Laaarv…"

"What, did you eat too much?" I asked, amused. She only nodded.

"You little glutton," I said, rubbing her head.

She nuzzled into it, and, up close, I started to notice the changes. I must've gotten her when she was already fairly old, because she was starting to turn a gray-blue. Her sage green color was fading. It was going to take more than one day, though. I could tell, because it was only the slightest change. It was nowhere near done.

"Hey, look," I said, both to Jack and to Tina, also. I motioned for Jack to walk over, and I pointed to Tina's body.

He had to look for a few moments.

"Is she changing colors?" He asked, looking to me for confirmation.

"Yeah, I think," I said, breathless. I was surprised that it was happening so fast. Then again, she was eating so much soil, and fighting a lot. I guess it wasn't really a surprise after all. And she had to have been fairly old when she first left with me. Based on what Brianna told me, it made sense that she evolved so fast. They had to get strong quick.

"Look at yourself," I said, pointing to her. Tina looked down.

"Larv?" She said. She didn't see anything different, obviously.

"Look at your body. The color," I said, stressing the word.

She stared closer. She lifted one stubby arm and held it in front of her own face. She brought it closer and closed one eye, narrowing the other.

I couldn't help but giggle. I sounded like a girl when doing so, but it was too funny, and too cute, to boot. She was acting like the entire thing was one big mystery.

"Larv…" She muttered, moving her paw back and forth. I realized something then that made the situation slightly more serious, and not as funny.

Maybe she had difficulty seeing certain colors?

"You look gray," I told her, as she stared at her own paw. She gazed up at my face.

"You're going to evolve soon. Don't you feel it?" I asked.

"Larv, Laaaarvvv…" She drawled. She put a hand to her mouth, and yawned.

"Wait, you knew?" I asked. She nodded.

"How did you know?" I asked.

"Larv, Larv Larv, Larvitar!" She exclaimed. While I had no idea what she was saying verbally, her body language said quite enough. She pointed to her arms, and to her body in general. Ignoring the scratches and nicks that were there from the fight with the Pidgeotto, I noticed that her body was starting to thicken. It had gotten a little wider, a little longer. Her arms were slightly less stubby. It was a change so small that, if she hadn't pointed it out to me, I wouldn't have noticed for a while more, yet.

Then she jumped a few inches in the air, before jumping much higher, a few feet, before landing and standing next to me.

"So, you noticed you were getting bigger, and your physical abilities were increasing?" I asked.

She nodded.

"Larvitar."

"That makes sense, actually," I said, looking at the ground.

I clapped my hands together, excited.

"Well, either way, it's a good thing. You're getting stronger, Tina."

"Larv!" She said, firmly nodding her head.

"Oh yeah, did I mention, Jack? She's getting better control over her attacks. It probably would've been harder to catch that Pidgeotto without it."

"You caught a Pidgeotto?" Jack asked.

"Yeah, I did. It was old and tough looking, too. It lasted a while even against Tina, with a type disadvantage," I said.

"Nice," he said. "I think I'm going to bring out the Mareep for the first time," he said.

"Really?" I asked. "I want to see this. It should be interesting," I said.

Jack nodded. He got up and brushed some debris off of his pants, and straightened himself, before he grabbed the ball out of his pocket. He stared at it while he enlarged it, and then he tossed it on the ground. It bounced up, releasing the Mareep inside, before rolling back towards his feet. He retrieved the ball as the Mareep looked around.

Jack got down onto both of his knees, so he appeared smaller to the Mareep. It looked at him, and took a step backwards. Tina growled. It turned around, and make a squeaking noise when it saw Tina.

"Don't try to run," I told it. "We caught you fair and square. You're Jack's Pokemon, now," I said. It calmed itself some, though Tina obviously didn't trust it fully, for good reasons, and positioned herself near it in case it tried to run.

It turned its attention back to Jack and watched as he came closer. It sniffed his hand as he held it out, and experimentally licked some of his fingers. It didn't do anything else. Slowly, it moved forwards, its trust growing. Jack lowered his hand onto its fluff, and started petting it. He jerked back for a second, and I heard the Mareep making a sound… it sounded almost like laughter.

It was. It was laughing. I watched as both it and Tina laughed at Jack.

"What did it do to you?" I asked, with an air of humor in my voice.

"It shocked me," he admitted. "It wasn't dangerous, but it felt like static electricity. I guess that makes sense. I'm pretty sure the PokeDex mentioned that at one time or another about Mareep doing that sort of thing," he said. He pointed behind Mareep.

I walked for a second and looked. The ball on its tail was glowing.

"That means it's making electricity, right?" He asked.

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure. It got you, man," I said. I grinned.

"Yeah, it did," he admitted. He seemed a lot more hesitant to touch it this time. The Mareep didn't even bother trying to contain its smile, and looked like it was almost daring him to do it. Jack grinned back at her, though, and I wondered what he was planning.

Tina was standing right next to the Mareep, and Jack grinned, before he tried to bump her along with his foot. She just stood there, offering no resistance, but she was still over two hundred pounds, and I knew what Jack was trying to do. It wasn't going to work because he wouldn't be able to move her.

After a few seconds of trying to make Tina discharge the static electricity, he gave up.

"Larvitarrr," Tina drawled.

"You know, you could help," Jack told her, completely deadpan. At her returning stare, he sighed, and looked back towards the Mareep, who looked even more amused than it had to begin with.

"Can I pet you?"Jack asked. The Mareep nodded, and Jack sighed before smiling, lifting a hand to pet her. First, he stopped to stroke the horns that jutted out from either side of its head. Then, cautiously, he laid a hand on its wool, and smiled when he wasn't shocked.

"Do you want to be my Pokemon?" He asked.

It surprised me the way he asked it. I didn't think he'd ever ask a question like that. It made sense though, giving it a choice. It was, after all, a thing with thoughts and feelings, even if it was also an animal. It did deserve the chance, though.

The Mareep nodded, much to Jack's relief, who grinned even harder than he had been.

"Good. I was worried that you were going to say no," he admitted.

"It was nice of you to ask like that," I said. "I don't think that I'll be giving the Pidgeotto the same choice, though," I said. "It'd probably run. I caught it fair and square, and it's going to stay on my team. They'll get used to us, I think," I said.

Jack frowned.

"Yeah, I know, but remember how people always made slavery jokes about Pokemon? I just don't want to resemble that, in any way. They're going to battle for me because they want to, not because I force them to like a dictator or something," he said.

This time I was the one who frowned.

"Yeah, I get what you're saying. I'd never be like that," I said.

The Mareep smiled at Jack and made a weird noise while he was rubbing it. It was similar to purring. After a moment, he stood up.

"So, what now?" He said.

"Do you want to train, or try to catch more Pokemon?" I asked.

"Train, I think," Jack said. "Catching another would be nice, but I'd like to do it with my own Pokemon. Plus, I still need to get used to this. What will you be doing?" He asked.

"I'll be training too," I said. "I just caught the Pidgeotto, so I think it's probably time for it to get used to me. I wonder if Brianna is ever going to try to catch something, though," I said.

Jack frowned.

"Yeah, did you notice how reluctant she was? I mean, if she doesn't want to, then sure, but didn't she say she was going to try a second time at training? I'm pretty sure that involves catching Pokemon," he said.

"Yeah," I said. "Maybe she just needs some time, maybe she's just nervous about it. I wouldn't dwell on it too much. There's something else that's bothering me," I admitted.

Jack's eyebrows moved up.

"What?"

I sighed.

"It's more of… I guess it's a cultural difference? I wouldn't really know how to put it. You'll understand what I'm getting at, once I make my point, though."

"Alright," I said, "remember how, in the anime, people would just travel with other people? Like, in one day, they'd just decide to leave with Ash, or whatever?"

"Yeah?" Jack asked. He didn't sound convinced yet.

"It doesn't make any sense. Think about it. I guess people in this world are, in general, more trusting. We aren't, obviously, but for all she knows, we could be two rapists just waiting for a good chance to have our way with her. What I'm saying is why did she just readily agree to leave with us like that?"

Although he looked perturbed from my rape comment, a serious look crossed his face. He knew it was true, he couldn't deny it. Even if the example I used was extreme, it didn't make the point I was making any less false.

"You're right," Jack said, though the words didn't come easily. "That just might be how it is around here, though," he said.

"Yeah, and I'd accept it if it was, but that's not it," I said. "Remember how Hank mentioned Team Rocket? Well, obviously, if criminals and things like that exist in this world, then it's then safe to assume it's probably fairly similar to ours besides Pokemon. So, again, if the elements for distrust are there, then why don't people distrust others?"

Jack didn't respond.

"It doesn't quite end there, though. One last thing I have to say. Even if all I've said is true, and people here are actually just as distrustful as where we're from, then that raises another question- why did Brianna come with us, and why is she more trustful?" I asked.

"I don't know," he admitted.

"You don't think she'd… she'd do something, do you?" He asked.

"No. No, of course not," I said. "I was just mentioning it," I said, frowning.

I heard a groan, and then Brianna's voice, irritated and scratchy, interrupted our discussion.

"Uh, how early is it?"

"Not that early, I've been up for a while," I said.

Brianna shifted over in her sleeping bag and didn't move for several moments. I thought she was going back to sleep for a second, but then I noticed the PokeDex in her hands. She made a noise and then pocketed the device.

"Eight fifty one," she groaned.

"I guess all that running around from yesterday hit you harder than you thought it would?" I suggested. She brushed her frizzy hair and tried to make it presentable.

She yawned and nodded.

"Yesh," she said, slurring her words. She shook her heads.

"Yes. I forgot that once you've been going easy in the city, you have to pace yourself. You can't just throw your body back into it without any preparation or pacing like I tried to do. Not to mention that I've been going to bed late the past few nights before I met you two, and I had sleep to catch up on anyway," she said.

"Do you want to sleep more?" I asked.

"As much as I would like to, and probably should, too, I don't want to keep you two waiting. I don't want to mess up my sleep schedule, either."

"Alright. We're ready to leave whenever, though we want to get in some training today so I was thinking of stopping early," I said. She nodded as she got out of her sleeping bag.

"Sounds good," Brianna said.

It took us a little while to get everything ready. We ate breakfast first- well, Jack and I had already eaten. Brianna ate, Jack took Mareep to go eat berries and grass, because she wouldn't eat meat, and Tina took the time to, once again, gorge herself on more dirt.

"By Arceus," Brianna whispered, as she watched Tina go. "It's almost scary."

"It's how Larvitar are though, right?" I asked. "That's what I've heard. They need the dirt. It's like the only thing they ever eat. It's not as surprising to me."

"No, it's not that," Brianna said. She swallowed some of her jerky with her water, and brushed some of her red unruly hair out of her face. Her green eyes were brighter and sharper than usual as they observed Tina eating. "It's just that you always hear stories about how much Larvitar eat. This is when they need the most food, after all. Since they're so rare, though, and since Larvitar are evolved into Pupitar and then into Tyranitar, you really don't see many of them. It's just sort of shocking," she said.

"If anything, they understated how much they eat. Either that," Brianna said, as she watched Tina sit in a gigantic sea of dirt, eating the first half, and frolicking through the latter half, "or you just have a glutton of a Larvitar."

At that point, Tina chomped down a particularly huge clump of dirt. She nearly choked on it- and I started to move to help her, but she swallowed it, and, without hesitation, continued stuffing herself, perhaps even faster than she had before.

"Nope, scratch that," Brianna said, leaning back on her hands, "Tina is a glutton."

Jack walked into the clearing, with Mareep leading the way.

"Are we ready to go?" Jack asked, hefting his bag.

"Almost. Brianna and I still need to pack some stuff," I replied.

"Tina, you should probably start covering up those holes!" I called over to her.

"Laaarv," she drawled. I took that as a yes, and moved to pack up. I spent a few minutes rolling up my sleeping bag and other things, and stuffing them as compact as I could inside my bag. I was starting to get good at it from doing it so much. I cast a glance across the campsite, and saw Tina finish plugging the last hole in the ground.

"Let's go," I said. I grinned at Brianna, who grinned back. Jack crossed his arms.

"Yeah, let's go," he said. "I want to try to get farther today."

XxXxXxXx

Since this forest didn't usually house any particular rare Pokemon, we didn't come across anything that we really wanted to catch, and we spent the time up until noon walking, looking at the land around us, and fighting the occasional Pokemon that thought it could challenge us. We'd decimate it, and then move forward.

We were only really a few miles away from town. We were really just taking different paths and going in a circle around the town to get used to the wilderness, and to train. We never dared to venture too far, though. Jack and I were pretty careful about that. We both knew that we weren't really that strong yet, and we didn't feel the need to learn the fact the hard way.  
We were content with running around, seeing Pokemon, and hoping for a rare catch or two. That was all we were out here for, anyway. We were out here to get a feel for, and to get used to, training.

Jack swore right before noon that he'd seen an Ivysaur between two bushes, but when we turned to look, excited, it'd already disappeared, apparently. Brianna and I hadn't seen anything. I wasn't sure if it had actually been there, but Jack kept insisting it, so I just dropped the matter.

We set up around noon and got ready to eat. Lunch was quiet except for Tina the Dirt Monster eating tons of soil a good hundred feet away from us. It was after we'd all finished eating that I decided to do it. I stood up, dusted my pants off, and walked over to Tina.

"I was thinking of releasing the Pidgeotto," I said, pointing to the nicks in her rock skin that were still there, even if they were slowly fading, "and I want you beside me when I do. I'm not exactly sure of how it will react, but I don't feel like taking a chance with this," I said.

Tina nodded. She walked with me for a short moment as we strode back over towards Jack and Brianna.

"I think I'm going to release Pidgeotto from its Pokeball for the first time," I announced. Jack nodded, and Brianna did, also. I mentioned it to her while we were walking. There hadn't been much else to talk about.

Jack released his Mareep, who he still hadn't named, and Brianna released Ciri, who immediately looked bored with everyone as soon as she entered the world. She lifted her tails off the ground, trying to keep them as clean as she could.

I saw her glaring at Tina, and couldn't help to smile. Neither of them did anything, but it still brought the memory to mind.

"Alright, this is it, I suppose," I said. I reached into my pocket and felt for Pidgeotto's Pokeball. I knew which one was Tina's by the scratches on top of it. Meanwhile, the Pidgeotto's was a lot newer, and it felt smoother, and less rough.

I removed it from my pocket, enlarged it, and tossed it on the ground, managing to catch on it on the return bounce, even if I lacked a little grace when doing so.

The red light materialized into Pidgeotto, and the second it was free, it tried to take to the skies. It was slow, however, and Jack's Mareep got it.

"Mareep, use Thundershock!" Jack yelled, and, with deadly accuracy, a small but paralyzing bolt of lightning shot out from the Mareep and struck the Pidgeotto right in the left wing. It had soared straight upwards, but started falling once it had been hit. I caught it in my arms before it hit the ground.

It was lighter than I thought it was going to be. It was still heavy, but I had been worried that I wouldn't be able to catch it while it was falling down. I let it down onto the ground and it glared at all three of us.

"Hey Pidgeotto, you remember me, right?" I asked. It answered my question with a glare.

"Glad to see that you remember. I caught you, fairly, in a battle. That makes you my Pokemon now. You may not like me at first, but I'm willing to wait. I'm sure that you'll warm up to me," I said.

It glared at me, and I could only shrug at it. It had taken a good beating from Tina during the battle, and it was still pretty bruised up. One wing was twisted a little, but it looked like a temporary sprain, at most. It had managed to try flying away just fine, so it obviously wasn't anything serious.

It stood on the ground and glanced around. When it saw Tina, it tensed up, but didn't move. It only stared at her. Tina stared back, and refused to move. Slowly, and reluctantly, it jerked its gaze away to something else, its eyes eventually coming to rest on me. Tina grinned, pleased with herself. It tossed an angry glance to both the Mareep and Ciri before letting out an indignant squawk.

Whatever it had said, Ciri didn't like it. She opened her beautiful maw and shot a stream of flame straight at the Pidgeotto, who had to leap back a few feet to avoid it.

Pidgeotto glowered at Ciri, and screeched before retaliating.

It tried to whip up a Gust attack in response. A dust devil started forming. The miniature tornado had to be at least three times my height, and double my width. Before it could be launched, though, at all of us, Tina dove through it and tackled the Pidgeotto to the ground. She pinned its body beneath her. The tiny twister dissipated once Pidgeotto failed to keep it going.

Tina looked content to sit there.

"It's pretty unruly, huh?" Brianna said. She scratched Ciri behind the ears. Jack took a look at it.

"Yeah, you've got to get it in line," he said.

"I know," I said. It was a little frustrating having to deal with Pokemon in this way. Capture something in the game? It obeys you instantly. Not here, though. This thing was still glaring at all of us, even though it was trapped under the weight of Tina.

"We can do this all day, if you want to," I offered. The bird looked away.

"I captured you, and I only want you to be part of my team. That's about it. Don't you want to get stronger?" I asked. It perked up at this, but still seemed unconvinced.

"Think about it some more. You're going back into the ball, for now," I said. I got its Pokeball and recalled it inside the device, before pocketing it. Tina waddled back over to me and hugged my shins.

"Good job," I told her.

"You really think it'll warm up to you?" Jack asked. Mareep cried something that sounded like agreement. Ciri did the same.

"Ninnneeeee…tails," she drawled.

I frowned. "I know you're all skeptical, but I think it's going to work out. We should give it some time. It only got caught this morning. It probably isn't accepting it yet."

Jack sighed. "Alright, but if it doesn't, you really should release it. It wouldn't be good to have something that you couldn't rely on like that around."

Even though the way he said it was sort of cruel, I knew that the point he was trying to make made sense

"Alright, yeah. If it's not really going to obey me, I'll release it," I promised.

Jack nodded, satisfied. Brianna didn't agree, though.

She just had to say it.

"No, I don't think you should do that. At least, not if you don't want to," she said.

"Why not?" Jack asked.

"Well, he did catch it. It belongs to him now, by law," she said.

"What the hell? Is it some sort of fucking piece of property, now?" Jack asked.

Brianna looked nervous, but replied anyway.

"Well… yeah," she admitted. "It is, basically."

Jack gaped. I managed not to, but there was no way to disguise the shock in my voice.

"Wait. Pokemon are property?" I asked.

"You act like you don't know," she said.

Fuck. I forgot. She still thinks we're from here.

"I grew up in a place this wasn't mentioned much. I only came to Johto recently. I know that's the law," I said, "but I didn't know people really thought of it… that way," I said.

She looked confused, but continued.

"What way?" She asked.

"Like they're slaves or something! Why should I be able to own something like that? I mean, I understand about animals that are stupid and have no idea about what's going on around them, but look at Tina!"

I pointed to her. She looked confused by all of it- both eyebrows raised, and mouth hanging open. Still adorable looking, too, and it pissed me off. The thought of… of abusing something like that, and that it was my property, and that I could do what I wanted-

"She has thoughts! She has feelings! Why should I own her? You make it sound like slavery!" I yelled.

I couldn't say why, but the way she'd said it had really, really pissed me off.

"That's just the way it is!" She yelled back.

"'It's just the way it is?'" I asked. "So, backwards thinking rules around here, huh?"

"I just grew up with it… it's always been this way! Hasn't it been the same for you?" She asked. I could tell that I was getting to her. She was starting to see the logic in my words.

"I get training and battling, it's a sport, and that's all good," I said. "It's completely fine in my eyes, as long as the things battling aren't being treated like objects! I remember hearing stuff about abuse laws when it came to Pokemon. I bet those are real lenient, aren't they?"

She didn't respond for a moment, but when she did speak up, her tone betrayed her sadness.

"It's true. Usually, the authorities only intervene when a Pokemon's life is in danger, or if a trainer has already killed a Pokemon. Even then, sometimes, trainers can get off. Continue training, even. Most people look the other way about hard beatings, even. It's just something some people do. No one really interferes," she said.

Mostly what she said had been what I expected.

"What about if a Pokemon attacks its own trainer, or another trainer, or any human, though? What then? What happens then?" I asked, pressing her.

"The laws are really strict when it comes to that… it doesn't take much for a Pokemon to be declared as dangerous, and for it to be executed for attacking a human," she admitted.

"Fucking figures," I said. Brianna buried her head in her hands, and didn't say anything else. Jack looked equally angry, and he recalled Mareep before stalking off into the trees and into a random direction. He was probably going to go train, blow off some steam. I didn't blame him for not wanting to be around Brianna right then.

As Brianna cried, I started to feel bad. Even if they were property in this world, that didn't mean that Brianna had done anything bad. It wasn't really fair to judge her, or to point my anger at her.

Tina looked over from eating her dirt. She looked concerned, and stopped eating, staring at the two of us. She didn't move, though.

"Brianna," I said, though I trailed off.

"W-What?" She choked out, sniffling. She lifted her head out of her hands and I saw clear tears streaming down from her brilliant green eyes. I couldn't feel angry when I was looking at a face like that.

Cheater.

"It's… it's not your fault," I said, sighing, hanging my head. "I just don't think it's fair to treat Pokemon in that way. You can see where I'm coming from, right?"

She nodded, finishing up her sobbing with a final sniffle or two.

"I'm… I'm sorry, Brianna," I said. "I shouldn't blame you for what other people do, even if it pisses me off. You made it sound like you shared the sentiment, though," I said.

"I did grow up with it, but I'd never abuse my Pokemon," she said. "Arceus, no."

"I believe you," I said. "I… grew up where this wasn't really mentioned that much," I said, choosing my words very carefully, "but I still knew about it. People never did it in public where I came from. They don't seem to really do it in public here, either. Is it just common etiquette, or…?" I trailed off, waiting for her to answer.

"You were just lucky, then. I saw it a few weeks ago, at a store. Trainer was buying something. I forget what he had- a Sentret, maybe," she said, "that's not the point, though, obviously. It tried to grab something- something like that. It embarrassed him, is the point. I was standing the back of the store, watching."

I waited for her to go on.

"He smacked it hard. Pretty hard, really, a lot harder than he should, not that he should, but… a lot harder than necessary, for sure," she said.

"The shopkeeper didn't even bat an eye," she said. "He and the trainer acted like it had never happened."

"That's… more than harsh," I said. "Where do people get off on doing things like that?"

"Don't ask me," she said, getting defensive again. "It's ingrained in our culture. It also probably helps that all Pokemon are, to an extent, submissive. It's one of the only things that researchers say link all Pokemon together."

"Wait, submissive? I've heard all sorts of stories of rebellious Pokemon before, though," I said. She shook her head.

"You might've heard stories like that, and they're true, but it doesn't override personality. An unruly Magmar is still going to be unruly no matter what you do. You have to conquer that by discipline. Still, though, what makes it easier is that, to an extent, all Pokemon are, for some reason, submissive to humans. It's not flashy in any way. It's subtle, it works in the background," she said.

"Why else do you think Pokemon even obey our commands in the first place? Researchers have also said that in some cases Pokemon are more trusting and believing of humans than of their fellow Pokemon. I never understood it," Brianna said, "but that's what the experts say."

"Yeah, and where did you learn this?"

"My basic Pokemon Psychology course that I took in high school, of course. You never took one? It's required in most schools these days," she said.

"I, uh, skipped it. Supplied it with another credit," I said. Man, I was getting good at lying. Not to mention making up lies on the spot, and retaining a straight face as they left my mouth. I wasn't the most honest guy ever before this, but at the same time, you could generally trust my word. I didn't exactly like having to lie like that.

"Oh. Well, maybe you shouldn't have skipped out on it if you were going to become a trainer," she said. "It'd probably be pretty useful, for obvious reasons. I actually learned a lot more than that in that class, too."

"Yeah, well, I wasn't exactly sure what I was doing with my life. I just decided to get basic school done with, and that I'd then go from there. I just decided to do this for fun, but it's more… rewarding, than I thought it would be," I said.

"How is training a career path, anyway? Go to tournaments, win money, things like that?" I asked.

She narrowed her eyes, but answered my question.

"Yeah, but it's not just that. If you're successful enough in regular battles, you should be able to get a lot outside of things like tournaments. Beating regular trainers in battle, over and over again, because you're advanced, is easy for the trainers who are a lot stronger, and a lot of them make pocket money that way," she said.

"Some of them depend on it as a reliable source of income, because a tournament isn't reliable. Sure, it gives much more money, but actual good trainers enter tournaments, and that means you have a good chance of losing, and thus, not getting much money," she said.

I nodded. That made a lot of sense.

"I've never minded a little competition, though… do you know of any tournaments coming up?" I asked. "It'd be interesting to try, even if I probably would lose," I said.

Brianna shook her head.

"No, nothing that I know of. This is a small town, so they don't usually hold much stuff here. You'd probably have to go to one of the larger cities to get into anything interesting," she said. I sucked my teeth.

"Lame. Oh well, I guess I can just enter one whenever we decide to move onto another city. I should probably try to get into some more trainer battles. That'd probably be good for me," I said.

Brianna nodded.

"More experience at battling is always good. There's always room for improvement," she said.

As silence filled the air, I turned towards Tina. She was napping, now. She just went to sleep in the middle of our argument, I guess. She probably figured out that it wasn't that serious. Before, she almost looked like she was going to jump in, even though she couldn't speak. She was peaceful now, in her slumber.

"Listen, I, uh… really appreciate you for not blaming me like that. I can tell, you know," she said.

"Tell what?" I asked. I knew what she was poking at, though.

"You aren't from around here," she said. "You ask too many questions, and you react strangely to things that are common knowledge that everyone knows."

"Yeah," I said. "I already told you I wasn't from around here."

"No, that's now what I'm talking about," she said. "It's like that everywhere. The things we talked about are global, across every region, city, and town. Even if you came from a really small town, and had a less than average education, you'd still be easily familiar with everything I mentioned," she said.

"In fact, neither you nor Jack should've been surprised at all," she said.

I didn't say anything.

Her tears were dry, and her eyes were red and bleary, but they also now held suspicion. She looked me up and down, like she was seeing something that hadn't been there before.

"Where are you really from?" She whispered.

I opened my mouth to answer, but just then, Jack came stomping back into the camp.

He tossed Brianna an angry glance, and didn't even bother speaking a word to her.

"Brianna and I have been talking while you were gone, Jack. I… we shouldn't blame her for what's the norm around here. She doesn't seem happy about it, either.

Jack turned towards her, with his brow still furrowed, but he didn't look as furious as he had been before, either. She nodded to him, with big, sad eyes.

He turned his head away, before he spoke.

"Fine, I guess. I forgive you. Just because other people do that stuff doesn't mean that I'm going to, though," he said. I saw the round bulge in his pants pocket.

"Why'd you recall Mareep?" I asked. Jack smiled.

"He got really tired after fighting, so I let him sleep," Jack said.

"Wait, he?" I asked. "How did you know?"

Jack didn't say anything for a moment.

"I checked the old fashioned way," Jack said.

I started laughing, I couldn't help it. Jack sent a glare my way but I didn't stop. I could just so easily imagine Jack bending over, looking under the Mareep's wool.

Brianna couldn't help but giggle at my antics.

"Yeah, yeah, laugh it up," Jack said, sighing. I let out a giggle or two more before I finally stopped. Brianna walked next to me, and nudged me with her pale arm.

"So? Are you going to tell me or not?" Brianna asked.

I didn't say anything for a second.

"Wait, she knows?" Jack asked.

"Well now, she does!" I shouted.

"So, where are you two actually from?" She asked.

I sighed.

I looked towards Jack, and he nodded.

"You're not going to believe me, but…"

Jack and I spent a good ten or twenty minutes describing practically everything up until we'd met her. From falling here, to getting Tina, to meeting Hank, and then to coming to the town. I ended it with us going to the marketplace.

"From there, you know the rest," I said. "We met you there, and you agreed, and… well, here we are," I said. I grinned, though the grin lacked strength. I was really hoping she would believe it. She frowned, and didn't say anything for a minute.

"I'm not going to say I believe it completely yet, but it makes a lot of sense- especially the part that Jack said, about it being Palkia's fault that you were brought here," she said.

"Has he done things like that before?" I asked.

She shrugged.

"I don't know. He hasn't been seen in such a long time, like all legendaries, most people just think they're legendaries. I think they're legends. It's ok if you believe in them, though. The town has a church if you want to visit it when we get back," Brianna said.

"A church? I didn't even know this place had a religion," I said.

"Sort of… it's the general belief that Arceus created the world after he hatched. There's a list of miracles that he performed, things like that. There are actual prayers, and things like that, but most people just attend church. Every other god worshipped is under him. They are worshipped in turn for what they supposedly do for us- Suicune, for example, rain. There are a few that overlap, though. Like how Suicune is rain and purifying pollution, but Raikou is storms and electricity, and Zapdos is also electricity. People generally pray to both Suicune and Raikou when a storm is coming, here. In Kanto, they'd probably just pray to Zapdos," she elaborated.

"So… it's sort of like the Greek Gods, then? Or Norse, or any of those older religions," I said. Jack nodded.

"Yeah, I see it," Jack said.

"Religions from your world, right?" She said.

"Yeah," I said. Another disturbing thought came to my mind as soon as I answered.

"Have you had war here because of religion?" I asked.

"Many have been slain in the name of Arceus," she said, her voice cracking. "That was before the regions really formed, though. It doesn't really happen before. The regions have been to war multiple times, but it was usually ended early, before huge casualties occurred," Brianna said.

"Not like my world at all, then," I said.

She didn't look like she really wanted to ask- not that she was afraid of offending me, but afraid of what she would receive as an answer.

"Worse?" She asked.

"Everyday," I said, thinking mostly of the Middle East, but also the Crusades, in history.

She cringed.

"It's been stated more than once that Arceus doesn't like that- if he even does exist, that is, so it's generally frowned upon," Brianna said. She frowned.

"It's not something I like to talk about," she said.

"Yeah, me either. Let's talk about something else. That's good, though. I'm glad to hear this place isn't as bad in that sense," I said.

She nodded, her frown disappearing.

"Something I have to ask you about, too," I said.

"What?" She asked.

"Was this about that other thing?" Jack asked. I nodded.

"What is it?" Brianna asked, again.

"We were wondering why people were so trusting here," Jack said.

"Are they, compared to where you come from?" She asked.

"Well, you just came with us, despite not knowing us that well. We could've been criminals, or murderers, or something like that. We aren't, but it's still scary. Do you have a lot of missing people in this world?" Jack asked.

She shook her head.

"I told my parents where I was going, what you looked like, things like that. I also told them to call the police if I was gone for too long," she said.

That surprised me.

"Why did you assume people were so trusting here?"

"Well, the only real source of information we've had about this world was from the show, and the games, like we mentioned," I said, and she nodded, "and, in them, as I'm sure you're familiar with, if you have TV here," and she nodded again, so I continued, "there isn't exactly much logic in them. We can only assume stuff from what we know," I said.

"While people are generally trusting here, people are also careful. Just not overly cautious, to the point of paranoia," she said.

"Well, it's just that I heard about Team Rocket, and then you came with us. I figured that with an organization like that, people wouldn't be trusting," I said.

She frowned again. Loathing entered her voice, the first time I'd ever heard it from her. She was such a sweet girl that I'd never expected to hear hate from her.

Well, I was hearing it now.

"Oh, them," she spat. "They've been more active in recent years. I wouldn't be surprised if people started getting more scared. They're like roaches. The Ranger Corps just can't exterminate them," she said. She stared at the ground.

"So they're on the run, then? That's good," I said. Jack nodded.

She shivered.

"No, they're not 'on the run.' I only said they were like roaches because they won't go away. They're much more powerful than that. Team Rocket is a global organization with contacts and bases in every single region. They find a base, but there's always more," she said.

"Just how many of them are there?" Jack asked.

"I don't know," she admitted. "The Rangers don't release numbers like that to the general public. A lot, though. You generally can't touch a Rocket, especially if they're higher up. You'd probably get killed for it," she said, shuddering.

I didn't blame her.

"Are you alright?" I asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine," she said, though her voice cracked like mine did when I was thirteen.

I felt a hard round shape poke the back of my leg, and turned, to see a sleepy Tina standing right beside me.

"Larv," she said. I think she was too tired to remember that I couldn't understand a single word that she was saying. I jammed my hand inside my pocket and got my Pokeball, and recalled her inside it.

"Thanks for believing us," I said, to Brianna. "We really don't have anyone else besides Hank that knows about this, and it's nice to be able to talk to someone about it," I admitted.

"Plus it's nice to know stuff about the world we're in," Jack added.

I nodded. "Yeah, that too. I really don't like being in the dark," I said.

She nodded.

"I can see why you wouldn't like it, but is it really such a big deal?"

"Yeah, it is," I said. I wasn't angry, but my tone was firm.

"We have to find Matt and Terry, and the less we know about this place, the harder that's going to be. I still don't know how we're going to do it. I know that Hank said he'd put the word out, and I trust him… but I don't really believe that they could find two people like that in a world this big. The worst case scenario is that even if they found them, it'd be years from now," I said.

"Not to mention I haven't even started thinking about how we're going to get back," I said.

I sighed.

"Look at me. It'll be alright," Brianna said. I grinned, though my eyes were staring at the ground. She said it again.

"Look at me."

I glanced up into her brilliant emerald eyes.

"It'll be alright," she said.

"Yeah, I hope so," I whispered.

XxXxXxXxXx

After asking Brianna, we decided that we would go back to Girk. We'd spent a few days out here, and we wanted a break, not to mention that we wanted to find some battles in town, and Brianna didn't want to scare her parents.

Jack and I really didn't want the police and/or the Rangers called on us, so we agreed.

It was around late morning, early afternoon when we started back, and we had to stop near the town at night to sleep. We would've liked to keep going, but we probably would've gotten there way late in the night, and we didn't feel like traveling at night.

We woke up in the morning, left the campsite, and continued. It took us a few hours, but around noon, we arrived back at Girk. Once we walked into town, Brianna split up with us.

"Well, that was fun, but I should get back to my parents," she said.

"Maybe we could do this another time?" I asked, with a grin. It had actually been really fun. I could only imagine it would be more exciting once I had a bigger team and more experience with training.

"Maybe," Brianna said, smiling at me. She released Ciri, who called to both of us as they walked away. Brianna disappeared into the crowd.

"Let's go," I said, pointing down the street. "I don't want to waste any time. I want to see if I can get some good battles in today," I said.

"Sure, lover boy," Jack said, grinning at me. I gave him a playful slap upside the head, and didn't say anything else. He only laughed at me.

It only took us ten or fifteen minutes to get to the Pokemon Center. Travel time was cut down a lot when we actually knew our way around the town. We'd learned a bit more when we were walking around lost, before we'd left with Brianna.

As we walked into the Pokemon Center, I spotted a group of men walking together. They were walking around, looking at the people and the Pokemon. They were wearing normal clothes, and they looked normal enough, but it was just strange to see twenty guys walking in one big clump like that.

I figured it was just probably a tour group or something. This world was a lot more normal than I'd first considered it would be. They probably had stuff like that.

Jack saw them too.

As we walked through the doors into the Pokemon Center, I commented on it.

"Weird, huh?" I said, nodding my head in their direction.

"Yeah, a little," Jack admitted.

Once we entered, I walked to the front desk immediately.

"Oh, I remember you," the Joy said.

I gave her a smile.

"Yeah," I said. I removed my Pokeballs from my pockets and turned them over to Nurse Joy. I'd already recalled Tina previously.

Jack looked at his ball for a moment before handing it over, too. Nurse Joy nodded.

"It'll just be a few minutes," she said.

Jack and I took a seat, and waited. It wasn't busy in here, so she took care of us first.

She took a few minutes using machines to look at the Pokemon.

She walked back over to us and handed us the balls back.

"Just some minor bruising across the board, it looked like. The Pidgeotto's wing wasn't as bad as I thought it was at first glance. He'll be fine. Most flying types can take extreme damage to their wing, and it'll heal fine," she said. "Otherwise, they wouldn't be able to battle. They'd get in one fight, be disabled, and never heal," she said.

"Oh, so it's a he, huh?" I asked, glancing down at his ball. She nodded.

"Anything else?" She asked.

"No, thank you," I grinned. "Well, besides a room, that is."

She nodded again.

"The same one as last time," she said.

Jack and I thanked her, and walked upstairs. I was just putting my Pokeballs on the bed when I heard a scream downstars. Frowning, I pocketed Pidgeotto's Pokeball, and started to walk downstairs. It had gotten really quiet after that scream.

Jack followed me downstairs, though he'd also left his Pokeball upstairs in the room.

We'd just walked down the last flight when we heard the scream again, and we ran for the lobby of the Pokemon Center.

As soon as we reached the foot of the stairs, what I saw made me freeze.

What I saw was a gun pointed in our direction.

"Get in the group with the others," the man said. He was dressed in completely black clothes, leaving almost no skin revealed. A large red R was on his chest, and was the only deviation of color besides the black that covered everything else. I could only barely see his eyes. He waved the pistol in my direction. Jack and I didn't move. The man grew angry.

"I said, move! Get in the fucking circle!"

He fired a shot upwards, and busted one of the lights installed in the ceiling. Glass rained down. Several of the people in the circle of people screamed, but he paid them no attention. Everyone was in the circle- trainers, children or other people that had been in the center at the time, and Nurse Joy, too. I walked up the circle and so did Jack. The man waited, though.

"Do either of you have Pokemon on you?" He asked.

I wasn't sure whether to lie or not, but after glancing towards the gun, and his uniform, I knew that if I lied, and he found out, it'd be bad.

It would be just as bad, however, if a Rocket took my Pokemon.

Pidgeotto's Pokeball wasn't enlarged, and it didn't make any sort of bulge. It was miniaturized in my pocket, so there was a decent chance that he wouldn't notice it.

That's what I was hoping, anyway.

I could see Jack sweating as I risked a glance to the side of me.

The man glared at me. From what I could see of his eyes, he narrowed them.

"Empty your pockets," he commanded.

I sighed.

I turned them inside out, and tried to not let the Pokeball show, but he caught it.

Immediately, I caught a pistol to the side of the head.

"Fuck you!" Jack shouted, but the pistol pointed in his direction shut him up.

I was dazed.

I'd never been actually hit in my life in that way. Sure a fight or two in middle school, but those lasted ten seconds, at best. Even the stuff with the Pokemon lately hadn't been like this. Usually, I hadn't been the one taking the hits.

He smashed the pistol into the side of my head, and the gun was big, so it fucking hurt.

I reeled, and barely managed to remain standing. He smirked, with Pidgeotto's Pokeball in his hand.

"That's better," he said. "Now, get in the fucking circle."

He moved his gun again, waving it in the general direction of the circle.

I glared at him as best as I could. I stumbled into the uneven group of people, and put a hand to the side of my head. I was bleeding. Tina was in her Pokeball, so I couldn't count on that. Jack didn't have his Pokeball on him, either, which was good, or so I guessed.

"Alright, listen up!" The man yelled. I looked towards to the entrance of the Pokemon Center. There were three more guards there, with big pistols, too, and mean looking Pokemon released. One had a scarred Golbat, and there was a Drowzee giving me an evil eye. The most intimidating, though, was a monster of a Raticate that the last one of them had.

"This is a Rocket Raid! We've had to show a few of you the error of your ways, but that's your fault, really, not mine," he said. He smirked again. I looked past him.

There were a few corpses on the floor. The blood pooled around their heads. They'd obviously resisted, or refused to give their Pokemon.

They'd been killed.

Dead.

I looked away, trying to push down the bile rising in my throat.

"This is happening across the city! It'd be best for all of you if you just kept in your places. You won't be hurt if you do that," he said.

Then, from what I could tell from his eyes, he grew angry, even if only for a moment.

"Don't be a hero. It'll be a repeat," he growled, pointing to the barrel of his gun.

There were streaks of red spattered across the dull barrel.

There was silence, and the man walked away towards the others near the entrance.

"I'm scared, Mommy," one kid said. He buried his wet face in her shirt. She just stroked his hair, and nodded.

"I know, honey," she said. She looked like she was struggling not to cry herself.

It was hard to keep upright for the first few minutes after I'd been hit. I was dazed and everything was really blurry. The pain went away, though, even if it was slow, and after a bit, it was a lot easier to deal with.

The Rockets were speaking over there- I didn't know about what. I only caught one word- a name, actually. Vito was all I heard. I figured that this would be my best chance. They were distracted.

It was in my room, and I knew I had to get it.

"Jack," I breathed. He looked over at me, still frowning.

"What?"

"I'm going to try to go for a break. I have a plan, sort of," I said.

Jack was immediately against it.

"What? No! Are you fucking crazy, Daniel?" He whispered.

The Rockets were still talking, one of them laughing.

Fucking bastards.

"This is our only chance," I said. "They might just kill everyone if they feel like it. They already killed a few," I said. "The only reason they're even keeping us alive is for hostage purposes. If not for that, we'd probably all be dead."

Jack looked away, angry, but didn't say anything. He couldn't refute my logic, but he didn't want to admit I was right, either.

"If you're going to do it," he said, still looking away from me, "then I want to be a part of it," he said. "We should both run for the stairs at the same time. It's not that far from where we're sitting," he whispered.

"If we can make it there, and start running up the stairs, all we have to do is make sure we get to the door and lock it behind us fast enough. Then we knock out the Rockets who follow, get our Pokemon, and get help. Try to bust out," he said.

"The only thing that's flawed is we don't know any contact numbers," he mumbled, looking down at his hands. "We don't know the 911 for this place, or the police, or-"

"Actually," I whispered, "we do. Remember Hank?" I asked.

Jack looked confused for maybe half a second before his face lit up.

"I still have that phone in the room," I said. "It's sitting right there in my backpack. If we can just reach the room, we'll be good. We'll still have to fight while they arrive, but at least we'll have help on the way."

Jack smiled.

"Let's do it," he said.

"One, two, three, now," I whispered.

We bolted upright from the group of people, and sprinted for the stairway as fast as we possibly could.

"Aw, SHIT! The two of you, go. We'll stay here and-"

The rest of it was drowned out in gunfire.

They fired in our direction, but we kept running anyway. They plinked into walls around us, but as we reached the foot of the stairs, they still hadn't managed to hit us.

But as we were turning to run upstairs, I felt a hot pain in my shoulder. It felt like a punch, only amplified. I almost fell back, and only barely managed to not fall over, continuing forward, slower.

The guns, they were so loud. I staggered, and put a palm to my shoulder.

It came away a smeared red. My eyes went a little blurry, and I staggered again, harder.

Jack screamed.

"NO!"

He let me lean on his shoulder, and we tried to run as fast as we could, but speed was obviously diminished. I got so much slower. I didn't know that this was what getting shot felt like. Even though their gun wasn't huge, the metal buried in my shoulder wasn't only really painful, it also sapped my energy, a lot.

With my adrenaline, I was able to move fast enough to keep away from the Rockets, but I was still a lot slower than I should've been. Every time my arm moved at all, a jolt of pain would throb from my shoulder, and the entire area around it.

The entire time, Jack was speaking to me.

"Don't you fucking die on me, Daniel! We've got to keep going, c'mon, here-"

We still had two flights of stairs to go, and as we ran down the hallway, the Rocket grunts managed to catch up, and started shooting down the hallway. This was a way worse situation than the first, and we had to keep our heads down as we ran down the hallway.

I was amazed that we didn't catch another bullet. I guess that's what you got when you hired crooks as grunts, though. Not well trained. I heard Jack grunt as we reached the second set of stairs, and as we ran up them, I threw a quick glance downwards, towards our feet. His calf was bleeding. He'd gotten grazed, but thank God it wasn't anything deep. It wasn't anything that would hinder our speed.

We were making decent time, but I had to wonder that, if we hadn't been caught, if they had actually collected everyone on all the floors. So, as we ran, I yelled.

"ROCKETS ARE ATTACKING THE BUILDING! DON'T COME OUT!"

I tried to make as much as noise as I could while we were passing doors. I was hoping that a strong trainer had been sleeping, and I'd get lucky, and wake him up, but nothing like that happened. It seemed that they'd gotten everyone on the second floor, too. I wasn't sure why they hadn't checked the third. Not to mention that there hadn't been that many people at the Center today anyway. I attributed it to their incompetence.

Still, I'd been hoping. I didn't see any movement from any of the doors, and had to conclude that we were going to be on our own for a while with this.

Just as we reached the last flight of stairs, I heard the Rockets yelling.

"You're not fucking GETTING AWAY!"

One of the two chasing us stopped, and tried to line up his aim as best as he could to fire a shot down the hallway. The other continued to chase and fire, but he missed all of his shots. We ducked our heads, and tried to avoid the gunfire.

"Fuck! Almost there, Daniel. Right there!"

We were halfway up the stairs, and about to turn, when it happened.

The man who had been standing still, with both hands on his gun, fired.

He had piercing, dead eyes, and his mouth was neither turned upwards or downwards.

His entire face was calm.

The muzzle flared as the gun fired, and Jack stopped in his tracks.

I looked over at Jack, as the other man got closer and closer to his with his gun, shooting more, and getting closer and closer with each shot, even if his aim was terrible.

I glanced down at Jack, who was glancing at his stomach, with one hand pressed against it. When he removed it, his entire bottom of his shirt, and his hand, was stained red.

He didn't say anything, but he staggered, multiple times

"Jack! JACK!" I yelled. He wasn't responding, he was out of it.

I cursed my luck and started to drag him along with me, hobbling upwards.

They had both started chasing again, but the guy that hadn't stopped had a much bigger lead, and was almost upon us, right before I opened the door, got Jack inside, and closed it shut. I locked it, knowing that it wouldn't probably give me much time, but it would have to be enough.

Jack was getting woozier still, and I tried to keep him awake, tried to shake him.

"JACK!"

He coughed, and I saw him shiver and tremble in pain as he continued bleeding.

I was thinking that he'd gotten lucky, and it hadn't hit any major organs, but whether or not that was true, there was still a bullet in his stomach. I wasn't even sure whether it had avoided a vital spot or not.

The blood was spreading, pooling, and I was panicking. The two men outside where kicking on the door repeatedly, and I knew that it would give soon, surely.

What do I do what do I do-

I took a deep breath, and tried to calm down, as I walked towards the bed. I glanced at the Pokeball sitting there, and I picked it up and released Tina, before setting the ball down on the bed.

"Larv," she cried, when she saw me. Her eyes grew even bigger when she saw Jack laid out on his bed, bleeding, still. Her sad, huge eyes soon narrowed, and she turned angry, glancing towards the door. She tensed herself.

No, she wasn't going to-

"LARV!"

She screeched so loud it made my ears hurt, and launched herself, smashing through the wooden door like it was nothing. It took one of the men by surprise, and even over all the noise, I was sure that I could hear a cracking sound, or two. He'd been knocked out, and was certainly down for now. He'd probably had a couple of his ribs broken, or at least sprained.

The other man was so surprised by the sudden attack that he didn't bother paying attention to us through the door. He would've had a clear shot on me if he did, so I was glad that Tina was taking up his attention.

This one was the one with the cold face- even now, the slight shock had drifted back into an arrogant calmness that spread across his face, like he wasn't in any danger at all.

He was the one who had shot Jack.

"He s-shot Jack," I told Tina. My voice cracked, and I was trembling.

She made a grumbling sound that was like growling, but much, much deeper.

Much angrier, as well.

Her eyes narrowed more.

She let out a screeching sound right before she attacked.

I'd never seen Tina so angry and hateful before.

She launched herself again, and the man fired his weapon a few times, in an attempt to save himself, but it missed. The little green missile hit him in the chest too, and I heard the cracking sound again.

"Good. Fuck you," I whispered, tears in my eyes. I'd put my hands on Jack's wound, trying to stop the blood flow as much as I could. I knew that I had to call for help, though, or there would be no chance for his survival, then.

I picked up the phone from my bag- staining everything red with my bloody hands. I dialed the phone, smearing the buttons red, but I didn't care. I could barely see the numbers through my tears. At this point, the bed he was laying on had blood everywhere, and there was blood on my shirt, on my hands, on my bags, and all over the phone.

Blood, blood, blood.

A few rings, and no answer.

Please pick up, fuck, pick up, PICK UP PICK UP-

"Hello?"

Hank spoke without tension- and it was a strange contrast to what I was experiencing.

Holding the phone in one hand, and my bleeding friend's wound in the other, I tried to explain my situation as quickly as possible.

That led to me sounding like a generic person on the 911 line.

"Oh my God, Hank, there's blood everywhere, you have to come, you have to help, I don't know how much longer he can hold on-"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. Calm down. What happened?"

My shoulder was still throbbing, but the bleeding from that had stopped to a small trickle. I was still getting woozier by the second from the blood loss.

I turned around, and Tina was staring at me and Jack, eyes huge and full of concern and worry.

"Watch the door," I whispered, and she nodded to me, though she seemed reluctant to tear her eyes away from me, with good reason.

"Hank, there's- Rockets have attacked Girk Town," I said. I pressed harder into Jack's wound, and though he was almost unconscious, he still winced. I couldn't imagine how much that had to hurt. I had been lucky enough to only get shot in the shoulder. I would most likely be fine, even if it was painful.

"What?" He asked.

I was doing it, going too fast again. I forced myself to calm down.

There was no one immediately attacking us right now, and I had the time to talk.

I took a deep breath.

"Rockets have attacked Girk Town," I repeated. "I've been shot in the shoulder, and Jack got shot in the stomach. He's… he's bleeding a lot, Hank."

"I don't know what to do," I whispered into the phone.

Thankfully, the hallway was still quiet. No one had come as reinforcements for the two idiots who were sprawled out on the hallway floor.

Hank sighed. His breath was heavy and slow before he responded.

"Where are you now?"

"The Pokemon Center," I said.

Another breath.

"Just… just stay where you are, for now," he said, "and try to stay calm. I'm calling for help. How many Rockets were there?"

"I don't know," I admitted. "One of the Rockets mentioned that this attack was happening all across the town," I said.

"Damn it!" Hank yelled.

I heard him say something in the background- it sounded like he'd called someone over.

"Hank, what happened?" I asked, but he didn't respond.

"You need to- what? What?" Hank repeated. There was noise in the background.

I heard static and a muffled shuffling as Hank pocketed or put down his phone, though I couldn't tell which he was doing. Hank was saying something.

I heard someone talking in the background, and Hank's voice rising to match his. It sounded like he was arguing with someone.

"We-No, just- JUST GO!" I heard, and then he came back to the phone, though he seemed much less calm than before.

"We're coming, Daniel. Just sit tight. I'll send ambulances too, and I'm contacting the local authorities. We won't get there as fast as they can," he said.

"Try to put pressure on the wound, if you can. Wrap it up with a towel, sheets, a shirt, anything. Just try to stop the blood flow. Look at the wound, what does it look like?"

I glanced down at Jack's mess of a stomach. One hole, smaller than I would've imagined it to be, blown open with blood leaking everywhere. I struggled not to puke. From what I could tell, though, it had at least not gone through the other side. I wasn't sure whether or not that was good or bad.

"I can't tell! I'm not a surgeon!" I yelled.

"Alright. Just hope that it didn't hit anything vital, and try to keep as much blood as possible from leaving his body, that's all you can do," Hank said.

"Alright, I'll-"

Clatter.

I dropped the phone. Between it being slippery with blood, and my trembling hands, I was amazed that I had even held onto it for that long. I scrambled for it and shoved the blood caked thing back up against my ear, and leaned against my good shoulder, so I could put both hands against Jack's stomach.

"Sorry, I d-dropped the phone," I said.

"Hurry, Hank."

"Don't worry, Daniel. I'll be there, too, and we'll get there as soon as we can," he said.

Then he hung up, and I looked at the phone for a second before tossing it to the other bed next to me. I resumed trying to stop the bleeding. It had slowed, which I was almost sure was good, but I was still worried.

It was maybe a few minutes later when my shoulder started to hurt even more.

It was still bleeding, but it had slowed. Still, that didn't mean that it wasn't bleeding, and that didn't mean that I didn't have a piece of metal embedded in my shoulder. I wasn't really sure what to do, but I still felt good enough to keep going, so I just tried to keep as much blood as I could inside of Jack, and tried to make sure he was breathing, too.

I had faint memories of things on TV- on channels like the Health channel, where they'd listed statistics and stuff like that. I couldn't remember much besides what I was already doing. For the short term, this was all I could do without medical training, but I knew that over time, this wasn't going to be enough. He needed medical treatment as fast as he could possibly get it.

It was a few minutes of silent desperation as I kept my hands mostly shoved against Jack's bloody stomach. I wasn't going to let him go that easily. I might've even been pressing too hard, but that was the least of my worries by that point.

Tina listened to what I'd said, and stayed over guarding the door, but I caught her looking more than once, at both me and Jack. I caught that look in her eye.

She stared back openly now, with what I could've sworn were tears, but they were too dark to be- gray-colored, maybe. Were those what Larvitar tears really looked like?

She started babbling- and even if I understood Pokemon, with how frantic she was about whatever she was saying, I still wouldn't have really gotten what she was saying.

"Lar-Larv! Larvitar, Larvitar! Larv, Larv, Larv-"

"Calm down!" I shouted. She looked even more vulnerable after I'd yelled at her. I was high-strung, and I sighed, raising a hand to push against my own shoulder, and kept one on Jack's stomach. I had calmed down some, but she was still panicking.

"Panicking won't do any good. If anyone else comes right now, I'm screwed. I need you to just watch that door for me, alright?" I asked. She nodded, and turned away. It seemed like she was crying less, but the tears were still there.

I turned away from her for a minute, and continued to focus on Jack.

He was still breathing fine, but the blood wasn't stopping. He'd had to have lost a ton of his blood by now. I couldn't tell, but by how much blood was all over the bed, I knew that it couldn't be good.

After a few minutes, I started to get curious.

I didn't want to leave, but I had to check something.

It was sort of risky, but it was the only way up, so I figured that I'd be safe.

"Tina," I said.

She turned around, dry-eyed this time. She wasn't cheerful, which I hated to see, but at least she wasn't crying any more.

"I want you to- very carefully, I'll add- check downstairs. It's been a bit, and Hank said he contacted the local authorities. You can't be seen. Try to edge your way along the staircase and see how things are going down there. I know you're not good at staying quiet, but just try, okay?" I asked.

I was a lot more nervous than I looked, and I knew that for a fact.

She nodded to me, and waddled off.

I wasn't taking any chances, and clutching my shoulder, shuffled over to the open door, and took both of the guns off of the floor. I tossed one into the room and held onto the other. If either of them woke up and tried to move, I'd be shooting them in legs.

I was furious at them- at Team Rocket- but Jack needed my attention more, and so I only paid their unconscious bodies the slightest attention, just watching in case they woke up and tried to pull anything.

It couldn't have been much longer before I heard a gunshot from below.

I didn't know what it was. It could've been Tina getting shot at, they could've been killing more the hostages… I had no idea what was happening. I gripped the gun that I had in one hand harder, and just focused on making sure Jack made it through.

He'd been without medical treatment for a little while now, and it was starting to scare me more and more, because I knew that with all injuries like this, it was most important that the person, in case of traumatic injury, got medical attention as fast as humanly possible.

This was nowhere near fast. It wasn't even normal speed. This was abysmal.

I got off of Jack and listened.

There were more gunshots than before.

They were a lot clearer. It sounded like a lot of guns going off at once, now. I looked towards the doorway, and fury bubbled up inside me when I glanced at the two Rockets still unconscious on the floor.

The Rockets were either executing the hostages, or fighting someone. Either way, I figured that I had to help. I'd done a lot to help Jack, but it looked like the bleeding had stopped for the most part. He was breathing fine, too.

I felt really bad about leaving Jack for even a short time, but if they were really executing hostages, then I had to try to get the drop on them, or I'd be next. The same went for if they were fighting. I had to help, just in case, to make sure that whoever was attacking won.

This was risky, but it was the only thing I could do. I just had to hope that Jack would last that long. Before I left, I did one last thing though, even if I probably did it poorly.

Taking a knife off of one of the Rockets, I cut one of the sheets of the Pokemon Center in half, and tied it around the wound as best as I could. I tried to tie it tight, but not too tight. No medical experience. I just tried to do what I could.

I had to hope he would last, now. The sheets had been dark yellow, but they were already stained with blood.

I grabbed the gun, stumbled over the two unconscious Rockets, and shuffled my way down the stairs. It was a loud five minutes of walking, clutching my shoulder, and worrying about both Jack, and whatever was happening downstairs.

When I reached the staircase, I stopped.

I inched my head out of the staircase and looked around the lobby.

It was chaos, plain and simple.

From what I could see, there were a few trainers who were up and trying to fight the Rockets. There were even more that were on the floor, and had been shot, probably to death. My anger only grew at that, but I forced myself to remain calm. I'd probably only get shot if I ran out like they had.

A few trainers that had weak Pokemon still on them were trying to fight, but it was no use. I guess I wasn't the only one who had been unwilling to give up Pokemon.

There were more Rockets inside the lobby than there had been before, too. Probably ten or more, it looked like. I saw them filing in from the back. They must've come from other areas in the town to reinforce the Pokemon Center and help them take care of the trainers.

I didn't know what to do, and what was worse was, I didn't see Tina.

Until I heard a shrill cry that filled the air, and heard a loud scream.

Throwing caution to the wind, I stampeded down the staircase while watching the scene unfold. Tina had tackled some guy down, and was biting his hand. Some Rocket Pokemon attacked her, getting shots in when they could. The other trainers were trying to help, but with the odds that the Rockets had, she might as well have been by herself.

It was only a second after I started running down the stairs that they noticed me.

The same Rocket that had hit me on the head called me out, and revealed me to the rest of them.

"It's that kid again!" He shouted, and they raised their guns to fire at me, just as I raised mine. They were on the far side of the Center, near the entrance, and I had just gotten off the stairs. I saw them about to fire at me. I dove behind the counter where Joy usually stood, and put my head down.

The gunfire was deafening, and I had problems hearing anything else besides that, and the screams of the trainers on the ground, and the ones fighting. Within a few moments, they'd been taken down, and it was only me and Tina, vastly outnumbered.

I popped up to take a shot when the gunfire in my direction started to die down.

They didn't expect me to stand up like that, and I managed to catch one of them with a bullet in the chest, and then it was back behind the counter for me. Tina was still attacking, but again, we were outnumbered, and although she had taken down several Rockets with guns, not only did she look tired, at least, in the small glimpses I'd seen of her when I'd stuck my head up, her skin was chipped, and she was squaring off against the three strong Rocket Pokemon from before, all by herself.

The Raticate, the Golbat, and the Drowzee weren't cutting her any breaks, and they attacked her from every side.

She was repeatedly lifted by what I was sure was the Confusion attack, and then Tackled and Bitten by the Raticate and the Golbat. I heard her screaming, but I couldn't do anything to help.

Tina was strong, but even she had her limits. After maybe the tenth or eleventh slam into the ground, she was starting to tire, and I knew that she couldn't take much more.

They'd taken their eyes off of me for the moment, and were watching the spectacle.

Laughing.

They were laughing while Tina screamed, being Bitten, Tackled, and slammed into the ground with Confusion.

I used it as a distraction, and popped up one more time to take a shot.

The first person I shot was the ringleader, the one that had the different R on his uniform. I got him both in the waist, and in the chest- making sure to shoot off Pidgeotto's Pokeball. He'd be able to help. His eyes widened in surprise after I took him down, but I had no time to stop.

I managed to shoot two more, and give the Pokemon attacking Tina a few shots as well, before the gunfire returned in my direction, and I had to duck down and clutch my shoulder again. It was throbbing more than ever, and my vision was blurring.

I'd lost too much blood. I tried to breathe, and not lose my focus. I couldn't lose.

There was too much at stake.

I heard a loud screech. It wasn't one of pain or agony, but one of triumph and attack, instead. I lifted my head as I heard the gunfire directed against something else.

Was it-

Pidgeotto was released from his ball and spread his wings out, diving at the Rockets and trying to attack as best as he could. There were still a few running my way, trying to get behind the counter and kill me, realizing the kind of trouble that I was causing. A few were dealing with Pidgeotto, and the Rocket Pokemon were still determined to take Tina down, and they were getting closer and closer to their goal.

I gritted my teeth and held my shoulder. I wanted to help Pidgeotto and Tina, but I had to take care of the Rockets coming for me first.

"Get over here, you little shit!" I heard one of them roar, as they drew closer to the counter. I took a deep breath, and popped up one more time.

The three of them still ran closer to me, but raised their weapons as they did so. I fired fast, and without much accuracy. I was probably running low on bullets.

I caught one in the leg, and another one in the arm. They both stopped, but the one I'd missed still came after me. He jumped over the counter and stood right in front of me with his gun pointed at me.

I shot first.

I'd already had my finger on the trigger when he had been vaulting over the counter, and I wasted no time, shooting him in the stomach, hitting him in the head several times, and grabbing his gun for myself. My hands shook, and I tried to calm myself.

When I raised my head above the counter again, there were only a few Rockets left.

Those few were going after Tina, and on the floor, what they left behind was a Pigeotto surrounded by a pool of blood.

I screamed.

"NO!"

This brought attention to me from across the room. The trainers and the other hostages, who stayed to one side, looked at me in surprise, then a few, in understanding. The Rockets only glared, and raised their pistols.

I wasn't going to have time to duck.

Just then, though, I heard a furious screech, and I watched as Tina slammed into the three. At two hundred pounds, she made the men tumble into each other, and their shots missed. I breathed. I wiped sweat off of my forehead, and I ran as fast as I could.

I was basically hobbling at this point, and clutching my shoulder nonstop, but as soon as I left the counter, I knocked out the two Rockets. They were slow on the draw of their weapons because I'd shot them both, and I didn't hold back as I smashed the gun I held in my hand against their head. I hurt my own hand doing so, and dropped the gun, but I didn't care anymore. I screamed.

"HELP!"

The hostages turned to me, and I motioned at the situation, frantic. They looked scared, but they still got up to help me, and a few them grabbed guns off of the floor for their own use, though they didn't look confident in doing so.

I didn't bother to watch the rest of it. The other Rockets were still knocked out on the floor, and I ran over to Pidgeotto.

By the time I got there, it was too late. He wasn't even moving anymore, only still.

I clenched my fists, and didn't say anything. The Rocket Pokemon looked uncomfortable in the situation, and turned to run, escaping the building through the door that was ajar. I hardly paid attention to them, though.

I stumbled over to the Rockets who were knocked over. One of them was still awake.

I started punching him.

I must've wailed on him with my one good arm for a whole minute before someone pulled me off. The next few minutes were a blur, as the hostages, now free, made sure to restrain the Rockets and hold them at gunpoint. Corpses of both Pokemon and people littered the floor, some of them Rockets, but most of them were civilians.

A few minutes later, the police and the ambulance showed up. Some of the civilians had injuries, and were treated, and they tried to treat me, but first, I lead them to Jack, who was upstairs. I stumbled the whole way, and the entire time, my vision was getting even woozier.

I collapsed as soon as I led them to Jack.

XxXxXxXx  
The first two times I woke up, I wished that I wasn't awake.

I had an IV stuck in my body, my mouth was dry, the light was too bright and it hurt my eyes, and my shoulder, and a lot of my body, felt sore. I coughed a lot in the short time that I was awake, both times. I could've sworn there was someone by my bedside, but I wasn't sure, and my eyes hurt so much I had them closed most of the time.

The third time, the light was less harsh, I didn't have an IV anymore, and my throat was wetter. Everything was just a lot better the third time I woke up, and as soon as I opened my eyes, and looked around, I found Hank by my bedside, waiting for me.

He gave me a small smile, but didn't speak for a few minutes.

He only spoke after I asked him.

"Is Jack alive?"

That was the first question on my mind. I wasn't sure how much he'd been hurt- I wasn't a medical professional. He'd been bleeding out pretty bad by himself up there, and I knew that the more blood you lost, and the longer it took the paramedics to get there, the worse it was.

Hank didn't say anything for a moment.

"Yeah, he's fine. You're honestly worse off than he is," he said.

I sighed, relieved, but still; I was worried about what he meant.

I gave him a look of confusion, and he sighed, elaborating.

"Alright, look at it this way. Jack got shot in the stomach, right?"

I nodded.

"He also got shot in the stomach, moved to a safe location, and then stayed there. You kept pressure on his wounds, and bandaged him up as best as you could, and left him to rest. It was a bad wound, nearly fatal, but the point is, even if it was rudimentary, he got treatment much, much earlier than you did," Hank said.

"How bad was it, Hank?" I asked. I wasn't facing him anymore. I was staring down at the white bed sheets that covered me.

Hank didn't say anything for a few moments.

"You nearly died, kid. What were you thinking?"

There was anger in his tone- a fury laid underneath that I was curious about.

I defended myself.

"I heard more gunshots, and I headed downstairs," I said. "If not for me, I think a lot more people would've died."

"It wasn't your job to do those things," he argued. He was getting angrier.

"You should've stayed put, like I told you, and then when the police came-"

"They came way, way too late! The hostages were already trying to fight back, and they were losing. If I hadn't gotten a surprise attack on them, a lot more would've been dead at the Center, Hank!"

Hank didn't say anything for a while, and I was scared that he was mad at me, but after a few minutes, he spoke again, quieter, this time.

"I know. I'm not saying I'm ungrateful- there are a lot of people at the Center that are calling you a hero, Daniel. I'm just trying to get you to understand that you don't need to risk your life like that. What if something worse had happened?" He asked.

I turned my head away, and didn't say anything.

I changed the subject.

"How's Tina?" I asked.

"She's doing fine. Larvitar are really dense, you already know that. Normal bullets like they had can barely pierce skin like she has, and she's barely a child. She would've gotten more hurt in the fight with the Pokemon than from the guns, honestly. As a Tyranitar, it'd be nearly impossible to get through something so strong. There are only a few bullet types in the world that can do damage to a Tyranitar- and explosions, and things like that."

He paused, and then grinned.

"It's funny, the girl asked the same thing, too-"

"Wait, the girl?" I asked.

Then I remembered.

I shot up in bed.

"Brianna!" I exclaimed. My shoulder immediately throbbed, and I groaned.

Hank was at my side in an instant, helping me lay back down, and chastising me for moving.

"Idiot, don't reopen your wounds! You're recovering really well so far, and the more you rest, the faster you get out of here," he said.

I grunted as he let me down, but didn't say anything else for a moment.

"Yes, Brianna. She was just in here a little while ago. She went to go visit Jack, and just take a break, I think. I don't think he's awake, but she's been at both of your sides for most of the time you've been unconscious. You've been out for a while, Daniel," he said.

"How long is a while?" I asked. I'd be lying if I said that at that moment, I was worried that I'd missed a huge amount of time.

"Just a day or two," he said. "Still, though. You must feel like shit," he said. It was blunt and to the point. I nodded.

"I guess I do, sort of. It's still better than it was before, though, when I was just waking up for a minute or two and then going back to sleep. I'm going to stay up for a bit longer before I go back to sleep again," I said.

"How many Rockets were there?" I asked.

"There were at least… look, do you remember how many there were at Center?" He asked. I nodded, though I wondered where he was going with this.

"There were… this is a small town, Daniel. There are only a few thousand people that live here, not even ten thousand. There were over seven hundred Rocket members that completely locked down the town. Their operation actually lasted almost an hour. The Center was one of the last places that they attacked, believe it or not."

I was quiet for a minute.

"How many, Hank?"

"How many what?" He asked.

I gritted my teeth, and I looked at him. He had that fake dumb look on his face. Like he didn't know what I was talking about. I sighed.

"You know what I mean, Hank," I said.

Hank ran a hand through his hair. I noticed that he was still in uniform. They must've still been stationed here- after such a huge attack, I'd imagine it, at least.

"There were over a hundred civilian casualties, a good portion of them coming from the Center, and other places. As for other numbers, there's more. Over eight hundred Pokemon were stolen during the raid, not to mention money, and other valuables that they could get their dirty hands on," he said.

I pulled on the sheets with my hands so hard that I thought I was going to rip them apart.

"You need to get them for this, Hank," I said. It wasn't even a question, or a request. It was a statement- more like an order, honestly.

"We will. We're already working on a few leads we have, right now. Is there anything you remember specifically that could help us?" He asked.

I shook my head.

"Are you sure? The smallest thing, anything. A location, a name-"

Wait.

Name?

"Actually, now that you remind me," I said, thinking back.

"They mentioned this one guy called Vito. Do you know anything about him?"

Hank's calm face immediately turned into an ugly frown.

"I'm not surprised," he said, in his gruff voice. "It's who we suspect as the leader of the Rockets. We don't have much more information. We've heard the name before, though," he said. "Still, thanks for mentioning that. It only confirms what we've been suspecting," he said.

Just then, Brianna walked inside. Her eyes were red and puffy- had she been crying? When she saw I was awake, though, the frown on her face transformed into a huge grin- which immediately turned into a frown again, directed at me.

"You're awake!" She said. It was closer to shouting than talking.

"Yeah, I am. Are you alright?" I asked. She nodded, her fiery, frizzy red hair swaying behind her head as she did so. Then she laughed.

"If anything, I should be asking you that. Are you crazy, Daniel? I heard about the crap you pulled at the Center," she said.

I couldn't meet her eyes, so the floor became the focus of my gaze, instead.

"If I didn't do it, who would've?" I shot back, but she had an answer for everything.

"It wasn't your job to do that! Why do you have to risk yourself like that?" She asked. She was starting to yell. She paced back and forth in front of the bed.

"That's what I tried to tell him!" Hank said, agreeing. Brianna nodded to him, then looked back at me.

"You should listen to Hank. He has your interests at heart. You know, like the most important one- not dying!"

She sat down in a chair next to me, and sighed. She seemed to be calming down.

"What are you, my mom?" I asked, scoffing.

"No, just someone who cares," she said. She wasn't as angry as before, but she was still irritated. I could hear it in her voice.

"Thanks," I said. I didn't know what else to say to that.

"Where's Tina, by the way?" I asked.

"This is a human hospital, Pokemon aren't really allowed in here," she said, "Don't worry, though. She's on the PC system."

"Where's-oh, right," I said, reminding myself.

She cringed. She scooted her chair closer and laid an arm on my good shoulder.

"I forgot about that. It's too… bad that happened," she said.

"You know, with how strong Pokemon are, you think bullets would be less effective against them," I said. Brianna shook her head.

"Bird types are specifically vulnerable to that. Not to mention that your Pokemon wasn't fully evolved, and all the hits it took were to major organs. It's… it's hard to explain, really. Just trust me when I say that usually, guns aren't as effective as they were," she said.

"You don't seem as mad about it as I thought you would be," she admitted. She frowned, again.

I shook my head.

"It's not that I don't care, it's just… I didn't really have him for that long," I said.

She nodded.

"Jack is actually awake. I only even came back here to tell Hank where I was going to be- answering Jack's questions. I should get back," she said.

"Sure," I said, waving my good arm. "I have stuff to talk to Hank about, anyway."

She beamed at me, and then her chair scraped the floor as she got up, and walked out.

I yawned.

"Going back to sleep?" Hank asked.

"Soon," I said. "I just have one more question.

"Shoot," he said.

"How many Rockets are dead?" I asked. I struggled to keep the rage and disgust out of my voice when I mentioned them by name.

He buried his face in his palms, and sighed.

"Around fifty, maybe a little more, give or take. You weren't the only one that fought back. A good portion died fighting when help finally arrived at the city, though. Probably over half," he said. His head was in his hands, frustrated about the situation, and what was to come.

He didn't catch what I did next.

I smiled.

"Good," I said.

I meant it, too.

**Ok, that's chapter three. Yeah, huge wait, I know. Mostly laziness and other writing projects got in the way of this. But see, I'm not dead! I'll finish this fic, for sure.**

** Not much to say at these ending notes, at least not this time. You guys probably didn't expect all that, huh?**

** Anyway, yeah. See ya.**


	5. Chapter 4

Recovery was slow.

I hadn't been aware of it at the time, but I'd nearly gone into shock from how much blood I'd lost. I was weak for the first few days after I'd really woken up, and not only was recovery slow, it was boring.

There was hardly anything to do. Brianna had brought me books, classics from the Pokemon World, but I couldn't get into it. I felt like I was reading fanfiction, in some weird way. I didn't have anything against fanfiction, but that was the easiest way to describe it. That wasn't even mentioning that I didn't like the books, anyway.

I couldn't get visits from my Pokemon because it was a human hospital. I heard that some people could. Read: more important people. Gym Leaders, politicians, the like. Mostly due to either status, money, or a combination of the two. Or, further still, just reputation. It didn't apply to me, though, even considering what I'd done at the Center.

I spent most of my time talking to Hank and Brianna, who were both at my side all the time. Hank was here most of the time, but Brianna was here all the time. She might as well have been my personal nurse, although she left for things like the bedpan, and other stuff the actual nurse had to do.

It was really humiliating.

I'd never been laid out like that in my life. I was a spoiled fucking kid from America, and lucky, besides. Never got any major injuries, certainly nothing that warranted anything more than an afternoon at the nearby hospital. And most definitely nothing that lasted this long, or didn't allow me to leave the bed.

I couldn't stand under my own power. Whenever the nurse came in, and Brianna left, I'd just look away and say nothing until it was over. I had to admit that the nurses were pretty sympathetic the whole time, though. They seemed to understand- I caught a glance once or twice that held a lot of meaning. They'd give a reassuring smile, and then continue on their business. I'd just sigh, and wait.

I'd lost so much blood that I spent most time eating, drinking, and sleeping, with the rest of the time being reserved to talking with whoever was beside my bed at the time- whether it was Hank, Brianna, or both of them at the same time, which was almost as common as either of them being there.

I had a transfusion when I was brought in- so did Jack, obviously. If not, we would've died, for sure. We'd lucked out in more ways than one. It hadn't taken them long to figure out our blood type, with how fast testing apparently was here, and then they'd just taken some of the blood they had in stock and gave it to us. It still took me a day or two more to fully wake up because I was still missing some blood, not to mention I was exhausted.

"How are you feeling today?" Brianna asked.

It was the second day after I'd really woken up and spoken with them. I was starting to get better, but it was still hard to walk for long. I'd probably be released either today or tomorrow.

"Fine," I told her. She was starting to get hover-y, but I ignored the feelings of annoyance. Regardless of whether she was a little annoying when she hung over me all day like she was, it was much better than being alone all day. I'd rather blow my brains all over the hospital bed than do that. That would've been torture with how boring that was. The room was white, and wouldn't have a color change any time soon- so I wouldn't even get to watch paint dry, in that case. The room had a TV, but there wasn't anything interesting on.

Not that I knew of, anyway, until Brianna turned on the TV.

"It's good that you're feeling better," she said. "I still can't believe you did that."

I only sighed in response. 'That was half of her vocabulary the past two days- I can't believe that you did that.'

"Watch some TV, alright?" She said, handing me the remote.

"I'll be back, going to visit Jack for just a sec," she said, as she walked out of the room.

She bounced back and forth, constantly, most days. Hank wasn't in yet.

Which left me alone.

Obviously.

I hadn't liked being alone since the Rocket Raid. It made me remember about what happened. I had started to feel guiltier about it, and as time went on, it only grew. The fact that, yes, even if by luck when I was shooting at the Rockets, I'd managed to catch a good majority of them with the bullets. The fact that, yes, I'd killed people, even if they were heartless criminals who hardly deserved anything else.

The fact that, yes, I'd enjoyed the fact that they'd gotten what they deserved.

For the second time in as many days, I withheld the bile that wanted to escape my throat. I was both disgusted with myself, and confused with myself.

I had killed someone, but they deserved it.

That was OK, right?

I knew it wasn't, though. There were conflicting voices in my mind, shouting at each other like this was a huge political issue that had pissed off a lot of people.

One side said that the Rockets were lucky enough to get off as they did, without all of them being dead. Shooting me, shooting Jack, killing Pidgeotto- how dare they? Trash on the floor, that's all they were, and that, in fact, I'd been too kind to them- should've killed more. This side had too much rage and hate, but still rose some decent points.

The other said that just because they killed didn't mean it was right to kill them for that. It was wrong- you were wrong, and you should feel bad, should feel disgusted. This side enjoyed the fact that I was disgusted. It enjoyed the fact, and it supported it.

I couldn't tell which side I hated more.

But what scared me most of all was the first side was winning.

Hank entered a few minutes later, while Brianna was still gone. He sat down next to me in the chair, with some book, and started to read.

I eagerly latched onto the distraction present. Anything to get my mind off it.

"How long are you going to be stationed here?" I asked. He glanced up, with widened eyes, but the momentary surprise once again shifted back into the calm that I knew Hank for. Always serious, always ready- that was Hank.

"We're going to leave today. We've driven out all the Rockets, and although this was a raid, there have been even larger in the past. We can't stay for too long. The Rangers have things to do," he said. I nodded.

The more I stayed here, the more the place reminded me of home, even if it wasn't. The place was more and more human by the minute- even the Pokemon were, to an extent. Even if they were a different species with hundreds of sub species, they still had thoughts and emotions that were human-like. The people, the Pokemon, even jobs, the government.

The military, too.

I wondered if it was the same back home- could you build a career on it?

"How long have you been in Corps?" I asked.

Hank answered, without looking up from his book this time. He flipped a page.

"I'm thirty four years old, and I joined around eighteen. I could probably be higher up in the pecking order if I wanted to, but I was never the most motivated of recruits. It's a good career path, if you considering it," he said.

"Why would I try to build a career here?" I asked. "I'll be leaving soon enough- at least, comparatively. I won't be staying here any longer than I have to," I said.

"I still don't fully believe your story," he reminded me, "but even if it was true, I don't know how you're going to get back. While you're trying, you might as well… get settled," he said, turning another page. I sighed and didn't respond for a minute.

"Might as well get settled? I don't have time for that," I said, with a tinge of annoyance in my voice. Hank only shrugged.

I coughed, and then fell silent.

Should I ask him?

I had been nauseated lately, and I was thinking it had to deal with this.

After thinking about it more, it was starting to affect me. It had been one of the only things to think about for the past few days, and as such, it got a lot of thought.

I was afraid he would be disgusted, or even angry with me. At the same time, it wasn't a good idea to keep it hidden from him. He'd given good advice in the past, besides.

"Hank, have you ever… killed someone?" I asked.

This warranted a lifting of the eyes. He slowly glanced up from the book, and sighed. It sounded like he hadn't been looking forward to this question, but he'd still been expecting it.

He glanced down to the book momentarily, dog-eared the page, and set it down for later. Then he pointed towards the badge on his chest. He was in casual clothes, no longer dressed in uniform, but he still had the badge on.

He didn't answer directly- at least, not right away.

"Do you know why the Ranger Corps were originally formed, Daniel?" He asked me.

I shook my head, and he nodded.

"I didn't think you would, with your situation," he said. "It's a tragic story. A long time ago, under the reign of Lance, a series of murders occurred. These were later connected to Team Rocket- who have actually been around for a long time- but to put it short, the murders ranged from politicians, to property owners, business men, and the like. Even people with menial jobs, and normal families. There didn't seem to be any connecting motive."

I paid attention, intrigued.

"However, because there was no connecting motive, eventually, the worst happened, as it tends to in situations like that. Lance's daughter, while out with her mother on a normal trip to the store, was killed," he said.

"It wasn't due to lack of protection, either. The Champion protects him or herself, and as for his or her loved ones, he or she usually protects them too. But they have a guard regardless; it's just how things work. The point is, Lance lost his daughter, and his wife barely survived the encounter," Hank said.

"Jesus Christ," I breathed. The Champion's daughter? The Rockets even got her?

"Jesus who?" Hank asked, with raised eyebrows.

"Never mind that," I said, waving a hand in the air.

"What happened next?" I asked.

"After that, Lance went into a deep depression. He didn't talk to anyone for a while, honestly. This was the most dangerous time to challenge Lance for his title. No one ever attempted it after what happened to the first few who did. And for years after, no one challenged him," Hank said.

"What happened? Did he… did he kill any of the trainers or the Pokemon?"

"What!? No!" Hank said, almost furious by the idea. He sighed.

"No, but the challengers who faced him say it was like facing a storm. They say that, in that room, by themselves, they felt that their life was in danger. They say that Lance would take out all of his grief and anger out on them. He didn't hold back, on anyone. If anything, he crushed each and every person who ever attempted to take his title during that time, harder than usual. Challengers backed off, fast."

"What was Lance like, in person?" I asked, taking the discussion a little off topic.

"When he wasn't depressed like that? A strong leader. Johto and Kanto's finest. Since we're joint nations, he operated as Champion for both of them and he did well. He was the longest reigning champion for a reason, as well. Some people say he was the strongest champion ever. The strongest trainer ever."

"Anyway, back to the story. It went on like this for a long time. We had police forces in every city, but this wasn't the same- it was more widespread, across different cities, towns, and areas of both regions. We needed something national, something stronger, something to deal with the issue- and it was Lance who proposed it, in the end," Hank said.

"So, Lance was the one who made the Rangers?" I asked.

"Basically. It took a lot more people and years of working, but he was the one who started everything. All over his daughter. Lance had complete control over two things, though. Two things that no one has changed in all the years since the Rangers have been founded," he said.

"Those two things were the motto of the organization, and the goal of the organization," Hank said, pointing to his badge on his chest.

"The goal of the organization is to protect Kanto and Johto from threats both inside and out, to preserve stability and harmony and to combat chaos and discord wherever it's sown and wherever, and whenever, it appears. Uphold the peace, and battle infamy. Things like that. I think you get the message, kid," I said.

"What's the motto, then?" I asked. The flash of determination in Hank's eyes could light a sky bright.

"The motto is 'At any cost,' kid. We do these things at any cost to ourselves. In essence, it's supposed to be selflessness. So, the answer to your question is yes. I've killed someone. I've been deployed for many years, having rare leaves. The leave you met me on was the first one I've had in the past two years of duty. I've only ever killed around fifteen people. All of them were Rockets. Some of those kills were with guns, and some were in Pokemon battles that ended in the worst way they possibly could."

After he said that, the room grew quiet for a moment, before I asked the question.

"How do you deal with it?"

He looked me straight in the eye.

"Day by day is how you deal with it. I'm here if you ever want to talk about it, Daniel," he said, offering. I considered it, but shook my head. I brought up another point instead.

"The thing I'm worried about the most right now is whether or not I'll get in trouble for what I did. I should be fine legally, right?" He nodded, though he looked concerned about something. I didn't question him about it.

"You should. Even if someone tried to take you to court on it, it would almost certainly go under self defense. Not that anyone is even going to," he said.

"With what you did though, even if a lot it was luck in a stressful situation, I've gotta recommend the Rangers one more time as a career option," he said. "You've got what it takes to succeed in it, I think. The only thing that might need curbing would be your attitude," he admitted. I sighed.

"I'm really not interested in any career involving the military, much less one that isn't even my own, Uncle Hank," I said, with a snicker at the end.

"I'm not your Uncle," he stated. Again, he didn't get the joke, and that was what made it funny. I shook my head.

"It's nothing," I said. I could it imagine it in my mind, though.

Hank's face pasted over Sam's.

I want YOU for the Pokemon Ranger Corps.

I couldn't help but snigger again.

The thought though, once the humor subsided, led to a lot more depression than optimism. It was probably the little things that I missed the most from my world.

"You're weird sometimes," Hank said, shaking his head before returning to his book, picking it up and flipping back to the dog-eared page. I stared at the white sheets.

I didn't respond, thinking of Uncle Sam.

XxXxXxXx

Hank left later on in the afternoon, at some pre designated time. He told me to call him if anything else ever happened like this. Then he was gone, just like the last time. I saw him in uniform one last time before he went. I'd always thought he'd look ridiculous in it before I saw him in it, but it fit him pretty well, which was good, I guess.

Brianna came back a little while later. She'd stopped by just for a minute after I'd talked to Hank, and mentioned that she was going to give Jack some company.

"I don't mind, go," I told her. She'd been gone for a while after that.

She poked her head in the door.

"Hey!" She said, in a cheery tone.

"Hey," I drawled. I slept on and off, and I was drowsy a lot. She was used to it by now.

"So, how was Jack?" I asked.

"Oh, he was fine. You should've seen him for the first few days, though. You're still recovering, and you were given light painkillers, because your wound isn't as serious, although your condition is. They gave him heavier stuff," she said, with a grin.

"Oh, what did he say?" I asked, with my head in my hands. My voice almost cracked and turned into laughter, but I managed to rein it in. I couldn't wait to use what she was about to tell me against him.

She cackled at the thought before she even said anything. She giggled multiple times throughout her story.

"Among other things, he said something about whether or not Pokemon were going to have to cry on him to heal him? What is he even talking about? Seriously, I have no idea-"

It was already too late, though. She'd already condemned me to a terrible, incurable fit of the giggles. I started laughing so hard that it almost turned into coughing, though it didn't, thankfully. She didn't understand, and only looked amused by what, garnering from me, had to be extremely hilarious.

"D-did he really say that?" I asked. She nodded.

I laughed even harder, pounding the bed beside me with my fist.

"I- I- I can't breathe!"

"Calm down, it's not that funny," she said, though she was giggling herself.

I blinked back tears in my eyes and tried to explain, but I was laughing too hard.

A few minutes later, the hilarity subsided, for the most part, and I was able to explain the Pokemon movies to her. She laughed a bit once she understood it, but as they always say, it always kills the joke to explain it. Not to mention that she'd never even seen the Pokemon movie before and because of that, it still wouldn't be as funny as it would've been without me explaining it to her.

"It's so weird," she admitted, once I'd finished telling her.

"What?"

"That… this whole place is fictional, to your world. If it really exists," she said, tacking on the part at the end. I didn't respond to that. I knew that what I said, even if it was the truth, was incredibly unrealistic, and for the most part, completely unbelievable.

"Imagine how it is to me," I said. "At least humans are real back in my world, remember that. It's just Pokemon that are considered fictional, not the humans that form the bonds with them. I've been bombarded by your culture since I got here. All stuff about Pokemon, all the time, all the time."

"It's a little draining, to say the least," I admitted.

Brianna nodded.

"I can see that. I'm surprised you're taking it so well, really."

"Yeah," I said, even though I didn't really mean it. Truth was, I wasn't taking it that easy. At first, I'd been nervous, but hopeful, and optimistic. Until the Rocket Raid, I'd at least believed we'd go home with a few months' worth experiences, and I wouldn't lose too much time.

That belief, that hope… all of it, was rapidly fading away.

I'd realized lately that it was going to be nowhere as easy as I'd originally imagined it would be. Besides the obvious threat of Team Rocket that had made itself all too clear recently, I had no idea how I'd get home. No idea at all. The obvious place to start at would be with Palkia, but I was starting to understand that they called it Legendary for a reason.

There was a very good chance that I could get strong, get an entire team together, and spend years and years and years searching, waiting, and watching. Jack with me, and even Matt and Terry, if we managed to catch up to them and meet up with them again. All four of us, could search, and we might never find it our entire lives. Greater men had tried and failed at things that weren't as hard as this.

No point in not trying, though. Especially when I hadn't even given it a real try yet.

"I'm really hoping I'll be able to leave soon," I admitted, looking at the bed I was still confined in. Brianna turned a comforting glance my way, and met my eyes with her brilliant emerald ones. She gave me a soft smile.

"From what I've heard from the doctors, you should be able to leave fairly soon. You've gotten better since what happened a few days ago. Just try to be patient, alright?"

"Well, it's not the bed that bothers me so much," I said. It was the truth.

"Tina, right?" She asked.

"Yeah, basically," I said. "I don't like leaving her alone for that long of a time. Not to mention that she doesn't even know what happened to me. She's probably worried, at least, I'd hope she was. Since when could Pokemon not come in a human hospital?" I asked, with a tinge of annoyance in my voice.

"Since human hospitals had trouble containing plenty of the largest species," she responded. "Not to mention there's still that cultural stigma about humans being superior," she added, though I could tell she was uncomfortable in doing so.

"Don't even remind me about that," I muttered, still angry with the very idea of it. All those years of making slave jokes about Pokemon, in complete jest. I'd never expected the place to actual have something similar to that.

Sure, Pokemon weren't actually slaves. They were treated much better than actual slaves were back in the day. Loads better, way better. That part was obvious.

The fact that annoyed me, though, was that there was still a large measure of discrimination there, and the fact that they were considered property, too. That was probably the worst part of it.

No matter which way you looked at it, they caught Pokemon, removed them from the natural habitat, and then trained them to fight for themselves. Pokemon got minor bits of the glory while the person who had trained them kept most of it. I knew they were submissive- as I'd been told- but it still seemed wrong, no matter how I tried to look at it.

I wasn't going to stop being a trainer, and it didn't make me hate or unlike being a trainer, either. What it made me hate was their culture.

"Wasn't there ever discrimination where you're from?" She asked.

"Of course," I replied, not seeing where she was going with this.

"Well, how can you judge so harshly, then? Aren't you just a hypocrite for that?"

"No," I said. I was a little frustrated with her, but I kept going on with my explanation.

"Just because there was discrimination doesn't mean it exists now- though, it does- but people aren't property anymore in most countries. And I didn't grow up with discrimination either, while people in this place did," I said.

"There's gotta be some sort of organization for this stuff," I said.

"Pokemon Rights? Something like that?" I asked.

"Well there is, but it's not exactly well received by the public," she said.

"Huh," I said, thinking of PETA. "We have something similar where I come from."

"Really?"

"Sort of, if what I'm thinking of is what it's like. Why don't people like it?"

She sighed and folded her hands together in her lap.

"There's a bunch of reasons, I guess. I don't get all of them because some of them are complicated, but I can try to explain some to you, I guess. One of them is just because they don't want things to change from the way they are. That's not surprising. The others make more sense and relate more to the way the group is," she said.

"For one, the group is sort of hypocritical- at least, it is a little bit, because plenty of the members and the most outspoken leaders are trainers, which sort of goes against what they say, at least to some degree. Not all of it, because trainers could exist without Pokemon being property. Still, it's just not the best thing for the organization," she said.

I nodded.

"I see where you're coming from. A lot of these things sound similar to the organization I'm thinking of. Actually really similar, to be honest. Both of the reasons you just listed are exact reasons why people hate PETA back where I come from," I said.

"What's PETA?" She asked.

"It stands for People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals. It's an organization devoted to advancing animal rights and the way we handle and care for them. It's really not taken that seriously, though, to be honest, two of the biggest reasons being the two you just listed. A lot of people just don't want things to change, and not to mention that a lot of people involved with PETA have been shown wearing fur coats, things like that. It's just the opposite of what they should be actually doing if they wanted to try and actually make a difference," I said.

"The message they're trying to send, in some way, right, but they're just going about it the wrong way, completely. Everyone considers them a complete joke," I explained.

She nodded.

"It sounds the same. The organization I'm talking about is RTAP, Rights To All Pokemon. They're… not all bad, but they got started off on the wrong foot, and the way things have developed, it's just not…" She trailed off.

"Good?" I suggested. She nodded. I stared at her for a moment.

"You were… never involved with them, were you?"

She shook her head.

"No, I was too young to go out traveling and do protests, and rallies, and things like that. I've followed them for a while, though. One of the biggest things they protest against is the law that Pokemon are property for humans," she said.

"Have they made any progress with what they've been trying to do?" I asked.

She snorted. "If you consider an inch progress, then maybe. They've spent so long fighting the system, and getting almost nothing out of it besides public hatred and humiliation. It probably feels pretty bad for them, to be honest. They're just trying to do what's right, but no one will really help them out with it," she said.

I didn't say anything after that for a while, just considering what she said, silently.

It sounded like it would be something interesting to get into, if I wasn't so apathetic about things like this. My opinion was usually pretty negative- that complaining wouldn't change anything. I was a 'one vote doesn't change anything' type of guy. It's a realistic mindset, even if it can be negative at times, because if you're just a normal guy, with no power, influence, or pull of any kind, then guess what?

Boom, it's a mostly realistic way to look at stuff like this. The truth is, usually, one vote really doesn't make a difference. You have to be extraordinary to do something like that, or at least really vocal, and well known, to make changes happen- and, well, by that time, you're not normal, with no power and no influence, are you?

That wasn't even adding that, in this situation, compared to Gay Rights or Civil Rights, it was even worse. At least in those situations, the oppressed were still people. Nothing wrong with Pokemon, but Tina and I aren't the same species. That fact alone is a pretty huge barrier to any sort of progress.

"Maybe I'll look them up some time," I mentioned to Brianna. She gave me a smile, before looking at the clock, and then gasping.

"What?" I asked.

"I think your doctor is making his rounds to his patients. He might be visiting you soon," she said.

"How do you know that?"

"When I first saw him, I asked about his schedule and stuff like that," she said. She almost seemed embarrassed about it. She squirmed in her seat.

"Thanks for that," I said, grinning. "I hope I get out today," I said.

Brianna nodded.

"You look a lot better to me," she said. "Have they been giving you a lot of medication lately?" she asked.

"You'd know," I teased. "You're always around here."

She blushed at that.

"No," I said, turning serious, "I don't think I've had anything that was really serious since I first got here. I know I had an IV at first, but they've taken that out because I don't need any more. The nurse has had me taking some pills to help with the light anemia she said I had, but besides that, no," I said.

She smiled, but it soon dropped.

"You know, when I first heard, I was worried," she admitted.

"You already mentioned that," I said.

"Yeah, but… I don't know. I couldn't believe that it had happened for a second time. I was just glad to have been inside of my house for a lot of it. When it was mostly over, and the Rangers were coming in to clean up the rest of it, I knew that you'd been involved, I just knew it. I ran to the hospital and looked up your name, and by the time I got here, Hank was already waiting, and Jack was down the hall, getting set up in his room," she said.

She sounded on the verge of tears.

"Hey," I said, trying to console her. "It's not that bad. Jack is fine, so am I. I lived, right?"

Her nervous face twisted into a mix of anger and worry.

"But what if you don't next time?"

Just then, we heard a knock on the door, and who I figured was my doctor stepped inside. He gave us both a warm smile and sat in the chair opposite to us before beginning to speak. He coughed and started to read off of the clipboard he'd brought with him.

"Daniel, is it?" He asked.

"Yes," I confirmed.

"Well son, you gave us quite a scare, there," he said.

"You're telling me," Brianna grumbled, and I sighed. At that, the doctor only laughed.

"So, what really happened? Do you think I'm good enough to leave?"

"Well, from what I understand, after they brought you in, I was called in. We took the bullet out of your shoulder and gave you an emergency transfusion of blood. Your blood type is common, so luckily, we were easily able to find the blood that you needed. After that, you still needed time to recover, and you've been resting in here for the past few days."

"Can you stand, son? I'd like to see how hard it is for you to walk."

I nodded.

"Yeah, let me see. I've barely gotten up because I was weakest the first day, but I've been feeling stronger today," I said.

I threw the sheets and comforters off, and tried to stand. I was only wearing the hospital gown, and it nearly slipped up too much as I stood. I had some bandaging on my shoulder that was dressing the gunshot wound. I was a little weak, still, but I was feeling a lot better, and after walking around for a few moments, I could tell that I was feeling fine. The bandaging restricted my movement a bit, but I didn't pull against it. I knew that would only make it worse.

"Yeah, I'm feeling a lot better," I said, with a grin. Brianna was smiling.

The doctor nodded back to me.

"As expected. The transfusion didn't get all the blood and it took your body a few days to pump the rest back to get you back to a good level. You also still needed more rest, which you've been getting. Sit back down on the bed for a moment," he said.

I complied, and the doctor scooted his chair closer so he could examine me.

"Try not to blink, please," he said, before retrieving a miniature flashlight and shining it in my eyes. I didn't blink, even though it was really bright. After a few minutes, that satisfied him. He looked me over once more.

"You seem fine enough. There's nothing saying that you have any sort of condition from the trauma you've been put in. You can walk well enough, your complexion has improved since we've brought you in here- you were a lot paler a few days ago, Daniel. I see no reason to not discharge you," he said.

"I just need you to sign this form. You're eighteen, right?"

"Sure," I mumbled, as I looked these over.

"Uh, can Brianna and I have a minute alone?" I asked.

He didn't even respond, instead just getting up with his clipboard and leaving us alone with the pen and the paperwork. The second he left the room, I sighed, and glanced down at the form that I held in my hands.

"I don't know whether or not to sign this," I admitted, as I looked it over. It had a few places where I needed to sign, a few for my initials, and a few more where I had to answer some questions and circle some answers. It was a basic, simple form, and if I was an actual citizen of Johto, you know, with real papers, I wouldn't be scared to sign it.

I wasn't, though, and I wasn't sure what to do.

"What should I do?"

Brianna shrugged.

"Sign it. What's the big deal?"

"The big deal is that I'm not a citizen here! You already know my story. What if they catch me in the paperwork and see that I'm not a real citizen?"

"You have a trainer's license, right?" She asked.

"Well, yeah, but-"

"Then you're fine," she said, interrupting me. "Look, the immigration process can be extensive and complicated, and people can take years trying to get into one region. Unova in particular is really strict about who they let in. But if you have a trainer's license, it's sort of like a passport to everywhere."

"Really?"

"Really," she confirmed. "It's set up that way globally just so trainers don't have to spend a stupid amount of time catering to different laws between different governments. It's also so it doesn't create less paperwork and hassle for the governments. If they ever say you're not a real citizen, just say that you were visiting from another country, and you got your license here and decided to start training."

"Will that really work?" I asked.

"It will, trust me," she said. Then she cracked a grin.

"What if they check for birth, or something like that? I wasn't born here."

"That might be the biggest problem. Don't worry though, there's almost no chance they'll check it. Even if they do, you can just say you got your license here and were born elsewhere. They'd have to go ask a foreign government all kinds of questions, get papers, try to make sure everything has validity. It's just a huge pain for them," she said, grinning.

"It's really annoying for the government and paper pushers to have to deal with trainers- they just blow all kinds of holes in the laws because of all the different little privileges they have that make them immune to this law or that tax, or whatever. Most will just wave you by because they know it just ties up the whole system and creates loads of work that they don't have time to do," she said.

"Wow, I didn't know you knew that much about this stuff," I said, looking over the form, beginning to sign it. She rubbed the back of her head and laughed.

"Well, I'm not that knowledgeable. I just know an easy way to get around the system. I learned a lot about laws while I was in school because I knew it would be useful to know that sort of stuff, especially as a trainer. I figured that minimizing my time getting restricted by the law would give me more time to train," she explained.

"Makes sense," I admitted, as I signed the last space.

"Hey," she said, playfully shoving my shoulder. There was humor in her voice, but I could also tell it was serious, too.

"What I said before the doctor came in. I meant it. What if you don't next time?" She asked.

I sighed.

"Look, I know what I did was stupid-"

"Really stupid," Brianna said.

"Really stupid," I said, sighing. "Just try to trust me on this. I won't do it again," I said.

"You promise?" She asked.

"I'm not going to do again," I said. "I'm not promising, though," I said.

"You better not," she said. Despite how she was trying to come off as serious, I heard the crack in her voice.

"Doc, come back in," I said, raising my voice a bit.

He entered.

"Everything OK?" He asked. I nodded.

"It's fine, here," I said.

He looked through the signatures, and for a second, even after what Brianna had told me, my heart stopped. It passed just as quickly, though, when he smiled and pinned the form to his clipboard.

"Everything appears to be in order," he said. "Ready to leave?"

"Yes, I am- wait," I said. "Can I visit my friend Jack first? He's down the hall. Brianna's been visiting him all the time," I said.

"Oh, Jack? Yes, you may. I was going to go check on him soon. I have a few patients before him, but I'll be in there soon, checking on his condition," he said.

"Take it easy, though, alright?" He asked me, as I started to climb out of bed.

"Oh, and one more thing. While you're well enough to be discharged, you still need to be very careful around that wound. I'd recommend picking up some bandaging before you leave so you can dress it for at least the next week," he said.

"You don't have to tell me twice," I muttered, as I got out of bed.

Brianna rushed to my side in an instant.

"Let me help you," she demanded. I sighed and leaned on her a bit as we walked through the door and out into the hallway.

It was the first time I was seeing the inside of the hospital from outside of my room. It wasn't much different from the hospitals we had back at home. Light green walls, white rooms, and clean floors. There were posters for all kinds of different things everywhere, and a supply room to the right of mine that was locked.

We walked down the hall for a few seconds, passing a few closed doors that were rooms for patients, before making a sharp turn and entering the first room that we saw, which was on the left. Just like I had been, Jack was laid up in bed. He had an IV and a few other tubes and bags connected to him.

His voice was soft and weak, and it lacked its usual strength. He wasn't as outspoken as he was. I could tell that this had done something to him. He was… different.

"Oh, hey, Daniel. Feeling better?" He asked.

"Yeah," I said. "They're letting me out today. I already signed out. I just wanted to visit you before I left," I said.

"Thanks," he said, smiling.

Then his smile fell.

"It's fucking unbelievable what happened, man. Hank visited me and told me some, but I heard most of it from Brianna. I'm sorry to hear about Pidgeotto," he said.

"Thanks. It's fine, though. I'm… dealing with it," I said.

"So, how hard did you get hit? How have you been feeling lately?"

He snorted.

"Like shit. I got shot in the stomach, Daniel. From what they've told me, it was three inches away from my intestinal track, which would've caused a whole world of other problems. It missed my pancreas, and my gallbladder. They've been telling me that I got extremely lucky with how I got shot- that, and the fact that you were there to stop a lot of the bleeding," he said.

"If not for that, I could've gotten all kinds of conditions. Sepsis is one of them, from what I've heard. I'm lucky enough with just having to stay in here for a while and rest," he said.

"It's uh… it's nothing," I said, trying to play it off. I didn't like him being so grateful to me like that. I'd only done what any normal person would've done in the situation- I helped him. He was my friend anyway; I wasn't just going to let him bleed out.

"So, are you getting out any time soon?"

He shook his head.

"Hell no. I can barely stand. I'll probably be in here for a while. A few weeks at least, most likely more, cause the doc said that a few weeks was really generous, even with the Chansey egg they've been giving me to help speed up the recovery. I gotta tell you, Daniel: sometimes, it hurts to breathe."

I frowned.

"Well, I'll try to visit you as much as I can, then," I said.

"Wish Mareep could come in here, though," he admitted.

"Yeah, it's lame," I said.

"Well, actually," Brianna piped up, "there is one Pokemon line allowed in here."

"Really?" Jack asked, interested. I stared at her. I was also wondering what she was talking about. She waved her hand.

"It's what you'd expect, though. Just Chansey that are owned by the government, which is where Jack is getting fed those eggs from. Even trainer owned ones can't get in. And even though the government owned Chansey are allowed in here, they're rare. There are probably only a few per hospital," Brianna said.

"Well, it makes sense, and I'm glad that it's helping me," Jack said. "Still don't get all the hate towards Pokemon, though."

I threw him a knowing glance, and the room was silent again, before the doctor came in.

"Jack, right?" Jack nodded.

"Well, you're doing alright, Jack, but we're going to have to keep you for a while longer. From what I've gathered, you can barely stand, the wound still hasn't fully sealed yet, nor is it anywhere near healed, and you're still recovering a bit of blood. Have you ever felt woozy while recovering?" The doctor asked.

"Once or twice," Jack admitted.

"Did you ever tell this to the nurse?" The doctor asked, in a scolding tone.

Jack sighed.

"No. The spells passed pretty quickly, though."

"I've also been a little nauseous."

"That's normal," the doctor said.

The doctor gave him a judging glare, and Jack looked away, with nervous, guilty eyes.

"You need to mention it if it happens again. That can be a very dangerous symptom, and not just to blood loss, although it's one of the most common causes of it. Tell the nurse if anything else happens," the doctor said, before he exited the room and went off to do more of his rounds with other patients.

Jack sighed, and I shook my head.

"What are you, stupid?" I asked.

A faint wheeze exited his body, and then he responded.

"Shut up, Daniel. They stopped happening. It's not that big of a deal," he said.

"Yeah, it actually is," I said, amazed by how stubborn he was.

He didn't say anything back to that, but now he was the one that had to deal with Brianna, not me. So I spent a few minutes sitting there, watching him get lectured by Brianna.

He sat there, with bored eyes, and his head held in one hand, and listened to her preach about safety for a few minutes. I could see the desperation in his eyes, but he wasn't getting out of this. I was a little angry with him for what he did. Sure, what we both did was dangerous, but being that stubborn, in his condition? He was going to get it.

Watching her go like that was actually funny- as long as the person wasn't me, obviously.

"Alright, alright!" Jack said, holding both hands up.

"I surrender! If it happens again, I'll tell the doctor. Happy?"

Brianna's scowl softened and turned into a small smile.

"That's right. I'd better not hear about any more trouble from you," she said, shaking her finger like a mother scolding her son. Jack put his face in his hands and groaned, and I chuckled.

"Thanks, Mom," he replied, in a snarky tone. Brianna only rolled her eyes and shook her head again. I only grinned and started moving towards the door. I stopped, and mentioned one last thing.

"We'll try to visit when we can. From what I've heard, Mareep is in the PC system. When you get out, you can see her. I'm going to go get Tina back, alright? You just stay here and rest up, alright?"

"Sure, man," Jack said, nodding, though he didn't look excited about it.

"Don't worry about it," he said. "I'll be out before you know it."

Just then, the nurse walked in, with bandaging.

"I'm going to have to redress his wound. You don't want to see this, believe me," she said. I wrinkled my nose. I definitely didn't want to see that.

I walked through and stepped out into the hallway, Brianna following me shortly after.

"C'mon," I said. "I want to go get Tina back."

"Sure," Brianna said. She smiled, and I grinned back before we started walking. I was still in my hospital gown, though, and I knew I needed to get my clothes back. They were probably even more ripped and torn than before, but I wouldn't be wearing them for long. I wasn't sure who had my other clothes. I was hoping they were still back at the Center, in my backpack.

We spent a few minutes walking down through the multiple floors of the hospital.

There were beeps and groans all around us as we stepped down each staircase. I'd honestly never been to the hospital in a long time, so I'd forgotten how it really sounded. Our floor had been quieter than these, but even then, there had still been noise. It wasn't like it was loud now, but still. So much for hospitals being a quiet, peaceful place.

I was breathing hard as we descended the stairs, but I tried not to show it.

When we reached the first floor, we made our way to the front desk. There was a woman standing there, and she addressed us as soon as we approached.

"Hello, sir. How may I help you?"

"The doctor said I was well enough for discharge. I came in here with a few things in my old pair of pants- my name is Daniel, do you have anything under that name?"

"Give me a second, sir," she said, and she took a moment to search through some papers and charts. This hospital was a pretty large place, so I didn't blame her for taking a little while to find my name. Even with her workplace organized, and it was, trust me, with papers neatly stacked into all kinds of separate little piles, it still took her thirty seconds to find me.

"Here we are, Daniel," she said, as her eyes moved. "You had some things on you when you entered the hospital, right?"

"That's correct," I said, nodding.

"I think we have it around here, somewhere," she said, and I noticed that, looking behind her, she had a bunch of boxes, with all kinds of knick knacks and items. I had to ask the question.

"Wouldn't relatives or friends just take care of possessions that someone had on them when they were entered into the hospital?"

"Normally, yes," the woman said, and she grunted as she pulled something heavy out of one box and set it to the side. "Because of the Rocket Raid, though, we've had an overflow of patients. This was just the best way to deal with it," she said.

"Here we are," she said, pulling out my ruined, bloody shirt, and torn pants. They were catalogued, with my name in a tag attached to them.

"These are yours, right?" She asked.

"Yeah," I said.

"Here… you are," she said, tossing them over the counter to me. She spent a few seconds lifting whatever heavy big thing she'd taken out back into the box, and then she closed it up again. I was already searching through my pockets, and in a few seconds, I'd located my license, which I pulled out of my pocket.

"Here we go!" I said, in triumph.

"Is that all?" The woman asked.

"Yes, that's all. This is all I really needed. Everything else, I know where it is. I didn't have it on me," I explained. The only place my backpack would be is back in my room. I'd just go back there, get some clothes, and then I'd be dressed.

I turned to leave, but the woman at the desk interrupted me.

"Uh, sir? You can't leave with that on," she said.

"Oh," I said. I didn't think of that. They probably couldn't afford to replace hospital gowns all the time.

What was I going to do, then?

"Relax," Brianna said, seeing the confused look on my face.

"I'll just get it and come back over here, alright? I won't be gone more than twenty or thirty minutes," she said. I smiled, and nodded.

"Thanks, Brianna," I said, calling to her as she started sprinting and ran out of the hospital. She threw a hand up as she started running.

"No problem!"

I sighed, and then sat down. Now there was nothing to do but wait. I could've went back upstairs, and visited Jack some more, but knowing him, he'd just be asleep. I sighed again, bored, and just waited.

She'd underestimated how long it would take her to run nearly all the way across town and back again. Even running across a small town, it was still a town, and she wasn't back for almost an hour more. I knew because I'd been practically watching the clock the entire time. Still, she eventually came back.

While she was gone, I'd asked the woman for some bandaging, and I'd gotten a thick white roll of gauze that I held in my hand the entire time I'd been waiting.

She walked back inside, with my backpack hanging off of her shoulder. She tossed me a shirt and a pair of pants.

"Thanks," I said, as I made my way towards the male bathroom. I went inside a stall to change. I almost tore off the hospital gown, I removed it so fast. I tugged on my pants and slipped on my shirt, being careful not to mess with the bandaging. She hadn't bothered to toss me a pair of boxers, so for now, I was going commando. I folded up the hospital gown and walked back out of the bathroom.

I gave it to the woman at the desk, and she put the folded up gown on the desk, and set it to the side.

"I hope you've enjoyed your stay," she said, smiling at me.

"That's it?" I asked, unsure. While sitting there, I'd remembered some things about my hospitals at home. Things I was almost sure that hospitals here would have.

"Yes, you're free to go," she said, waving a hand to the door.

"I… I don't have to pay any medical bills, or sign any other forms, or be rolled out of here in a wheelchair?" I asked. Brianna gave me a strange, amused look- and I could've sworn I heard multiple chuckles from the people in the waiting room behind me. I said it fairly loud because I was surprised.

The woman gave an honest, laugh that continued for a few seconds. She laughed, before breaking out into a fit of giggles that took a few seconds to go away.

"That's the funniest thing I've heard all week," she said.

"No, there's nothing else. You're free to go," she said.

"Uh, ok," I said. Brianna followed me as I walked out of the hospital and she managed to keep her composure for a few seconds until we were out of the building.

Then she started laughing.

"Were you serious?" She asked.

I turned to her with the most neutral face I could manage.

"That's how it is where I come from," I said.

Her smile dropped a little bit.

"What if you can't pay bills, though?"

I threw my hands in the air.

"Then you're fucked, I guess. It can be even worse even if you have insurance, in a way. It can be extremely expensive, even if it's a small medical procedure. And if it's a major procedure, or surgery, then forget it. Not to mention something like physical therapy," I said.

"What a stupid system," Brianna said, frowning.

"People usually get really angry about it," I admitted. "I gotta ask, though: just how exactly is everything free here? While there's a good chance they overcharge where I'm from, at least more than the average person could afford, it's still very expensive. How does the government cover all of it?"

She smiled.

"It's a complicated system, but that's something that would be obvious for something this large. A lot of large businesses and corporations are required to donate portions of their income to the medical system. Taxes are a little high for it, and a few other things- like the government setting aside a huge budget for it, and a lot of their sources of income are put almost entirely towards it- tourism, things like that."

I nodded.

"That's still entirely worth it," I said.

"Of course it is," she said. "I can't believe what you just said. Are you serious?"

I nodded again.

"Yeah, completely. It's pretty ridiculous, but that's just how it works, basically. It's always been like that, thinking about it. Even in other countries before the formation of America, the richest people had the best medical treatment. Is that still the same?"

She squirmed, then sighed, and nodded.

"To a point, yeah. Still, even people that don't have that much money can still get really good care, and to a point, the advantage that the people with money get isn't that huge. Just better doctors, better equipment, but it's not a huge gap. Not to mention that compared to where you come from, it's still way better. At least poor people can still get treatment here," she said.

"Not many people out today," I said, pointing to the streets.

The population of the town was scarce. I barely saw anyone on the street, save a few people walking here or there. It was nearly silent.

"I think most people are still scared, to be honest," Brianna said.

"Of the Rockets?" I asked.

"Of course, who else?" Brianna said. She wrinkled her nose at the thought of them.

"The hospital was packed, and I bet other places like the police station are, too. I know they recovered a decent amount of stolen valuables during the raid as they were chasing the Rockets out. It was still very successful for them, though," she said, glaring.

"Well, we should get going, and get to the Pokemon Center," I said, holding my license in my hand. "I want to get Tina out of the PC system, already," I said.

"Sure," she said, still holding my backpack over her shoulder.

"Just be careful," she said, guiding me along.

I rolled my eyes. She was acting like I'd just been shot or something.

"I can walk on my own, you know," I said, chuckling. I tried to make it into a joke.

"Just because you can, it doesn't mean you have to be so hard on yourself," she said, with that same determined face I'd seen from her so much recently.

"Well, if you're going to hang onto me like a five year old does to his mom in a supermarket, then you might as well carry this too," I said, dropping the roll of gauze into her hands. I didn't want to show it, but she was right. I was starting to get tired.

Along with losing some blood, which I still recovering the final bits of, I knew that getting shot was a serious thing. I was surprised that I was lasting so well, honestly. I'd been a bit out of breath when we were walking down the stairs, even though they were down stairs, and not up stairs. Now, in the heat of the sun, it was a little harder, and after ten or fifteen minutes, it hurt my pride a little, but I had to ask her to stop.

"I told you," she said, as I leaned against the wall of a building.

"Yeah, I know," I said, sighing.

We rested in the shade for a while, and then we continued on. Sometimes, my shoulder ached a little bit. It never reopened though, the wound. It stayed closed, and the bandages stayed in place, like they should, even though at times they itched and I wanted to tear them off. Brianna was there for me the entire time, helping me along, and holding all of my stuff for me. It took us a lot longer to get back across the town, because not only were we not running, we were barely even walking.

I moved pretty slowly, and we had to take multiple breaks whenever I got too tired to continue. We'd find a spot with shade, I'd stop, catch my breath for a few minutes, and let myself cool down. Beads of sweat dotted my forehead like the morning dew on the grass we walked by, and I had sweat stains before long, around my pits, and on my chest, too.

Still, we eventually made it to the Center after a particularly long twenty five minute trek, and the second we got inside of the Center, I immediately bolted for a chair as fast as I could and settled myself into it, groaning. The air conditioning was a blessing, and I drank it in.

"I'll get her in a few minutes," I said, talking about Tina. Brianna nodded as she sat next to me. I coughed and wheezed a few times, and then fell silent for a few minutes as I simply rested in the cool air of the Pokemon Center.

"I told you to take it easy," she said.

"I know, I know," I said. "It's just… I didn't expect myself to get that tired that easily. I was expecting to have more endurance than that."

"Even though you just got out of the hospital?"

"Yeah, even though I just got out of the hospital," I said.

"It really strained your body, what happened to you. Trust me, you're doing fine," she said. I only looked at her, and sighed.

"If you say so, I guess. Still, I can tell that I'm going to have to rest a bit more before I even think about leaving town again," I said. "I'm not ready to go back out into the wilderness, at least, not for an extended trip."

"You're damn right you're not ready," Brianna said. I rolled my eyes.

"It'd be nice to have Tina back again, though, so I'm going to get her," I said, standing up. Most of my strength had returned after resting for a little while.

"Speaking of Pokemon, where is Ciri?" I asked.

"She's back at home. I couldn't bring Pokeballs into the hospital, and I don't like leaving Pokemon in the PC system, so she's released, at home. My parents love her, so it's no big deal."

"Oh," I said. I started to walk over towards the PC. There were only a few people inside the Center at the time, but I could've sworn I recognized a few faces from the Rocket Raid. I didn't pay any of them much attention, though. I just wanted to have Tina back.

I sat down at the PC system. I was already used to using it- even with its reverse clicking system, which was still incredibly annoying. This was where the hard part came. I couldn't figure out how to access my trainer account. I looked to the side of the PC. There was a little machine there that was sort of like the thing you slide your credit card through to pay for something in a store.

"A slide-thing?" I said, out loud, more to myself than to anyone else.

Not even sure whether it would work or not, I slid the card through the machine.

Data covered the screen- all kinds of numbers and letters- but then, after a few seconds, my name appeared on the screen.

Nothing else happened, and I saw a box come up with nothing typed into it.

Looking on my trainer card/license, I found my serial number- I guess that's what you would call it. Serial number, ID number, whatever. It wanted that. It was a twelve digit number, and I put it into the machine.

Then, last, the little camera at the top of the PC scanned my face. I didn't expect it, but in less than a few seconds, the green light that passed over my face was already done, and a box opened up on the screen.

There was a bunch of my statistics there- tournaments won, whether I'd ever competed for being Champion, things like that. Things like height and weight, and other things, too. Things like how many Pokemon I owned, what type, whether I was a type specialist or not, which they determined by looking at what type dominated your trainer account the most. All kinds of things that you'd want to know about a trainer. Some things that would be useful, and then the rest were basically trivia. Just by looking at my account, I could tell that I could also look up other people on here. It had been designed with that in mind.

I only had one Pokemon in there, Tina.

I'd never even gotten the chance to register Pidgeotto in the account because it had all happened too fast right after I got back. I still regretted shooting the Rocket's side like that. It was mostly surprise, now that I thought about it. They weren't even good shots. It was just that Pidgeotto never had a chance to react, not to mention he didn't move fast enough in time because he hadn't been expecting what had happened. The Center was an enclosed space, too, which had only slowed him down and restricted his movement even more.

I felt guilty about not feeling guilty. It sucked that he was dead, yeah, and the Rockets pissed me off- but not because of that. I still felt bad about it, but I'd had him for so short of a time that I'd never formed any sort of… connection. It sounded so weird and terrible to say it… that I didn't care because there hadn't been any time to care, but it was true, in a way. I was still mad about it, but nowhere near as furious as I was about them attacking Tina, or what they'd done to Jack.

I sighed, and I hit a few keys, selecting Tina. It checked my license to make sure that I didn't already have six registered Pokemon withdrawn, and once it determined that I did not, it asked for a Pokeball.

It should've still been up there in the room we were staying in.

I really didn't feel like getting up, so I called Brianna over instead.

"It's asking me for a Pokeball, so I was wondering if-"

"If I could go get it?" She asked, interrupting.

"Yeah, basically. I'm tired and I don't feel like getting up," I said.

I still didn't like saying it, but in this situation, I didn't have much choice.

I just wanted Tina back at this point.

I sat back in the chair and waited while Brianna went upstairs. I wasn't sure where to go from here besides resting up and waiting for Jack to get out of the hospital. He'd gotten unlucky with a gutshot. Even with the Chansey egg, like he said, he'd probably he laid up in there for a while. I guess more training couldn't hurt.

It was the only thing I could think of to do, anyway.

Brianna came back with the scratched Pokeball a few minutes later. She was red in the face from running, and a little sweaty, but she gave it to me with a smile. I took it from her and set it down on a little tray that had popped out. It was just the right size to hold a miniaturized Pokeball. The second I removed my hand from the Pokeball, a harsh red light surrounded it for a few moments before it died out.

The box on the computer no longer showed Tina as inside the Pokeball shook a bit. I picked it up and put it in my pocket for a moment as I took my license back, closed my account, and turned off the PC. A minute or two later, I enlarge the Pokeball and bounced it on the floor- catching it in my hand.

The red beam became Tina, who gave one of the happiest cries I'd seen from her yet.

"LARV!"

She was a little taller by now, and a little more silvery-gray, but she was still mostly that sage green that I had come to know and adore. She was almost about to jump into me like always, but she hesitated when she saw some of the bandaging sticking out of the collar and sleeves of my shirt.

"Larv?" she asked, in a small voice, unlike her usual brash tone.

"A lot of stuff happened," I said, sighing.

"Larv," she repeated, waddling over and hugging my shins. I reached a hand down and stroked her rough skin. She cuddled up against me and nuzzled into my hand, and I couldn't help but chuckle.

"Larv?" she asked, one more time. I sighed.

"I got shot," I told her. She looked confused. Right, she didn't know what guns were.

"Remember what the Rockets had?" I asked.

She looked confused. I elaborated a little more.

"The little black metal things, Tina," I said.

She still looked confused.

I made a gun shape with one hand and cocked it back before firing.

"Bang," I said.

Her eyes widened and she nodded before letting out a shrill cry.

"Larv! Larv, LarvLarv-"

"Calm down, Tina," I said, pointing to my shoulder.

"I got off lucky enough with just this. Jack, though… he's not as good," I said.

Again, with the break in her voice- I was surprised she cared so much about us. We'd barely been together for long at all, but I guess connections formed fast, because I cared about her a lot too, even though I'd only had her for so short a time.

"He got shot in the gut," I said, poking a finger into my own stomach. Tina nodded.

"He'll live and recover, though. You just aren't going to see him for a while, alright?"

She nodded, but she didn't look happy about it.

"He'll be out eventually. I got out of the hospital today. I wanted to get you back as fast as possible," I said. Tina shouted a happy, protective cry and held onto my shins.

"You were worried, weren't you?" I asked. My voice was soft. She nodded and let out a muffled cry as she buried her head into my pant leg.

"What now?" Brianna asked. I shrugged.

"I'm not sure. All I know is I'm not going to be doing much for at least a little while," I said. Just then, I felt a hand on my shoulder, and a loud voice greeted me. A strange paranoia filled me, with dread following it.

"Hey, it's that kid!" I heard a voice shout, from behind me.

I shuddered, and jumped out of my chair with a yelp.

Everyone in the lobby gave me a weird look. The two worst stares that I got though were Tina and Brianna- confusion mixed with concern and worry.

My heart was beating so fast I could scarcely think, but I tried to calm myself down.

I managed to concentrate on the person who had touched me. It was some guy.

He couldn't have been much older than I was- a few years, at the most. He was a young twenty something. He made another attempt, which I had to give him credit for, considering how badly I had reacted to the first time he greeted me.

"You're that kid that saved all of us from the Rockets, right?" He asked.

"Uh, yeah," I said. Why was I feeling this way? Why did I react so violently to nothing?

I tried to think about it as he kept asking questions.

"Wow, that's your Larvitar! I saw it fighting three on one, it was amazing!"

I tried to keep paying attention, but my body eventually went on auto-pilot, for lack of a better word. I kept answering his questions and put on a false smile for the guy. I attempted to act like I cared, but there was more I was worrying about at the moment- at that very second, whatever it was exactly that was wrong with me. My heart was just beginning to calm down when he finally left.

I was getting approving looks from across the lobby. Nurse Joy was staring at me with a smile, and most of the people in the lobby either had seen me that day, or had heard of me since then. I gave them a nervous smile and rubbed the back of my head.

I'd never felt so out of place in my life, right then, as I walked up to the counter.

"Could I get a room?" I asked Nurse Joy. I just wanted to get out of here, now.

"Sure. The same one?" she asked. I shuddered again.

It wasn't like the other times. This time when I thought of the Rockets, instead of just hate and vindictive joy, guilt was there too, like a layer of oil on top of everything that refused to stop polluting my emotions.

I was no longer only happy that I had killed them.

They did deserve it, but was I really the one who decided to who that kind of stuff happened to? Was I really that guy? I was pretty sure that I wasn't.

"N-no," I said, stuttering. "A different one, one on the second floor, maybe?" I asked.

I felt vile. I felt sick.

"If that's what you want, it's no problem," she said.

Nurse Joy frowned.

"Is there something wrong, dear?"

"N-no," I repeated. "Just feeling a little sick, I guess. I just got out of the hospital, so it's not too surprising. I think I'll just go to my room," I said.

Her frown persisted. "That's no good," Nurse Joy said. "You'd better rest," she said.

Brianna practically dragged me away from the spot.

"Don't worry, he's going to," she promised, as she led me up the stairs. She didn't speak as she led me to the room. Tina followed, her eyes opened wide and her normally upwards mouth turned down into a cute frown.

"Larv?" she asked.

Brianna didn't answer, and she didn't say anything to me until we were in the room on the second floor. She left my backpack on one of the beds, and only then, once I'd sat down, did she start.

"What's wrong with you?"

She practically hissed the words- whispered them, like she didn't want anyone to hear how I was sick, or how angry she was about it- or, more likely, how she knew nothing about it.

"It-it's nothing. It'll pass," I said.

I didn't think it was going to.

The bathroom was the place to be, as my stomach lurched. In record time, even with my bum shoulder, I shoved past her, pulled the door open, and made the toilet bowl, just in time as the first wave of nausea exited me.

"There's definitely something wrong with you!"

I heard Tina make a noise from the other room.

She stomped her feet on the floor like a child, and she said something, but I didn't exactly catch it over my own groans and the sound of me vomiting. I hated puking. The acidic, burning feeling it left in your throat was horrible, and that wasn't even mentioning the terrible taste. I didn't feel as sick as before, but I wasn't confident enough to leave the toilet bowl yet, either. I reached to the side and got some toilet paper, and wiped at my mouth.

"What did you say?" I asked.

"I asked what was wrong," she said, frowning.

"I don't know, I just felt… sick," I said.

She narrowed her eyes at me.

"You're not telling me the truth."

I laid one hand on the sink and the other rested on the toilet.

"I don't know what you're talking about," I said, insistent. "In fact, I'm almost certain that you're making this up. I probably just picked something up in the hospital-"

Then again, like a demanding child, my stomach made itself realized again. More bile came up, a nice pink orange color. It tinged the corners of my mouth, just like it tinged the inner rim of the toilet bowl.

"This fucking sucks," I said.

"I hate seeing you like this," Brianna said. Her voice was soft.

"You think I like this?" I said. I could almost laugh.

"No, but I can tell. The way you acted when he told you about the other room, I heard you. How are you dealing with that, by the way?"

My stomach demanded it one more time, but there was nothing to expel. I gagged and dry heaved for a few moments, and then it stopped, thank Arceus. I leaned back against the wall of the bathroom.

I didn't bother responding to her question. I was too tired. It wasn't exactly her business, anyway. I sighed.

"I just need to rest," I told her.

"Fine," she said, but I could tell this wasn't the end of it. I rolled my eyes.

I knew that she cared, but she didn't have to be involved in every little thing.

"I'm going to go to sleep, I think."

"Alright, fine," she said. "I think I'll go visit my parents. You'll be fine, right?"

I nodded, and she left.

I heaved myself off of the floor and washed my mouth out for a few minutes. It didn't get the taste out entirely, but it was still better than nothing. After that, I lumbered over to the bed with my backpack, tossed the pack off, and rolled onto bed.

Tina, I don't remember where she was- maybe she was napping too, or she just didn't want to bother me. I saw her in one corner of the room. I didn't even bother pulling the covers over myself. The only thing I remembered to do was take my shoes off and toss them into some random corner before passing out.

XxXxXx

I don't know how long I was asleep. All I knew was that the trek to the Pokemon Center, even though it was only a few miles worth of a walk, had left me exhausted. I was going to have a strange sleep schedule now, but I'd reset eventually. I had needed the nap.

"Larv?"

I tasted my lips and tongue, both of which were dry and grimaced- the faint taste of vomit was still there, though it was much less intense than it had been the last time I was awake. I sighed, and rolled up into a sitting position.

I glanced to the window at the other side of the room, and I saw the darkness outside. I knew it was late, but I didn't know how late. I looked at the clock on the wall.

It was almost eight. I'd slept for probably six hours, at the least.

I sighed.

"Larv?"

I gave Tina a tired smile.

"Hey."

She hopped up into the bed, the mattress bulging inward at her weight. She waddled over to me and rubbed her head fin against my stomach. I pet her head, and she made that deep noise again- the one that was similar to purring.

At nine, it was a little late for dinner, but I was going to try to see if I could get something in my stomach before the night started. I knew that I wasn't going to bed, and I was going to be up all night. I wanted to eat at least.

I stumbled to my feet, and visited the bathroom first, and washed my face. It helped me wake up. I probably shouldn't have slept because now it would be annoying to get used to sleeping at night again, but it wasn't that big of a deal, so it didn't really matter, I guess.

Tina followed me as I walked down the stairs, instead of taking the elevator. It was only one floor anyway, and it was probably a good idea for me to be walking around. I'd been stuck in that bed for a little while, and even the smallest amount of extra exercise could only be good for me.

The same Nurse Joy greeted me as I walked down the stairs into the lobby.

"Hey, Daniel," she said.

"Uh, hey, Nurse Joy. I didn't know we were on a first name basis," I said.

"If you don't want me to call you by that, it's fine," she said.

"No, it's not that I care… it's just, it's a little weird, you know?"

"I can certainly see the angle you're coming from, but I'm just a little grateful for what you did for the Center that day. Even if people died, you still stood up to them. It was a lot more than what everyone else was doing," she said.

"It seems everyone around here is 'a little grateful,'" I said. I glanced around the lobby, and like the other time, I caught plenty of approving, respectful glances from random people around the lobby- all ages, and genders, trainers old and young.

"Well, what did you expect?" She asked.

"Obviously not this," I answered, with a smile.

"Is dinner still available?" I asked.

"You're a little late, and I might refuse, but for you… sure," she said.

"You know, I'm not going to complain anymore," I said.

Nurse Joy giggled and led me to a table. She brought me a plate.

I ate.

Once I was done, I left. I had things to do- things to do meaning actually just wander around the city, but I didn't want to stay in the Center. I spent enough time in there as it was. Tina followed behind me, loyal as usual.

Something hit me, that I nearly forgot.

"You must be hungry, aren't you?"

She wasn't even paying full attention. I caught her staring at a pile of soil on the side of the street like I'd stare at a big, juicy burger.

"They fed you while you were in the PC system, right?"

She shook her head.

"What, is it like freezing? Like you just don't change while you're there?"

She nodded.

"Well, you still haven't eaten in a while. I can manage a walk, I think. We might have to stop a bit, but at night, it's better," I said.

It was true. Without the sun beating on my back, it was a lot less exhausting.

It took me a little while, and I took one break, but I walked out of town, through the gates, and then we went walking for another half hour. When we'd gotten a decent distance from town, I stopped, and sat down on the side of the rough path carved through the wilderness. Tina wasted no time, and buried her mouth in the dirt.

I knew I was going to be here for a while. She hadn't eaten dirt in a while, and she'd probably devour half the land around here before she was done. I wasn't going to be able to fall asleep, but I could still rest while I was waiting on her to eat.

I glanced over at the gigantic hole she'd already formed. She was underground by now, eating her way through layers and layers of dirt. I noticed she was starting to get even grayer, though it was more subtle than the first time I'd noticed it. She was going to evolve soon, I could tell. I'd also been considering what Pokemon to get next on my team.

I only wanted a strong team, especially after what had happened recently. I wouldn't reject anything that was weak if I happened to catch something that was, but I wanted strong Pokemon to protect me, and to protect each other, too. This world was more dangerous than I'd thought it would be, at first. Crime still existed here- and, in a way, was a lot worse than at home because Pokemon enabled them to do things that they couldn't do back home.

I couldn't imagine how many bank heists had been pulled off with the aid of psychic Pokemon. Or, in general, just how many times Pokemon had been used to just force people to give them money, or just for violence, in general.

It was fucked up, in more than one way.

The moon was nearly full, and I watched it, enjoying the night. There wasn't anything else to do, anyway.

While I was waiting on Tina to finish eating, I heard a strange sound, behind me.

It almost sounded like a soft gunshot, even if that was an oxymoron. It had the pop of one, but it was nowhere near as loud. It gave off a lot of light, and when I turned around, I saw a yellow creature levitating itself in the air, with its eyes closed.

It almost looked like a baby, or a fetus, but it was too big for that. It was closer to a toddler, but it was still strange. I only recognized what it was after a few seconds. It was facing away from me, with its face turned to the side.

It was an Abra. These things were even harder to catch. I couldn't believe my luck. Almost without my knowledge, my hand moved towards my pockets, first checking the left, then the right.

Fuck. All I had on me was Tina's ball, no other spares. I'd heard trainers talking about a tip once when they were in the Center- never leave without Pokeballs on you. Now I got what they meant. I was already regretting it.

I stepped one time towards it, and it twitched its head, and glanced towards me. I could've sworn one of the eyes opened up a bit, but I didn't get a good look, because as soon as it thought I was even going to try anything, it was already gone.

Another flash of light and a pop, and it was gone.

"Fuck!"

I stomped my foot on the ground.

So, they really were hard to catch. No wonder so few trainers had them; it was reliant on luck, and reaction time- probably throwing a Pokeball as fast as you could the second you saw one teleport near you.

I'd just lost my chance because I hadn't had a ball on me, too.

I heard a cry as Tina burst forth from the earth.  
"Larv?"

"It's nothing, Tina," I said. She'd probably heard my frustration from underground.

"Go back to eating."

She gave a motion that could only be taken as a shrug. With that, she dove back underground, and it was silent again.

What was my next move going to be? I had to rest, but would I stay here, in Girk town? Or would I move? I sort of wanted to leave this place. It was nice here, but I wanted to see more than just this one town and this one forest. There was so much more out there than just… this. If anything, I owed it to every kid that ever wanted to go to the Pokemon World, to explore it. And to Matt and Terry, too. I had to look for them.

When Jack heals, then I'll leave.

What about Brianna, though?

The annoying part of my brain just had to ask the question- and now that it was my mind, I certainly couldn't forget about it. I couldn't just ask her to leave behind everything she had here- mostly, her parents, but she grew up here, too. That was probably an attachment- I know it would be, for me, if I was in her position.

She could come if she wanted to, though.

I looked over to the giant hole that Tina had dug. She was standing to the side of it, lying on her back, with her stomach a little larger than before. She burped, and wiped some of the dirt off of her, but she was still incredibly filthy. Dirt and soil, along with everything that came with them, caked almost her entire body, except her mouth and the surrounding areas, because she'd licked all the dirt away.

"Are you done?" I asked.

She nodded, content. I almost expected her to follow me by rolling with how full she looked, but she managed to get to her feet, and waddled over to me as I walked back in the direction of Girk.

My shoulder throbbed a bit, and I was starting to breathe harder by the time we reached the gate. I wasn't going to stop that easily, though, and I kept going all the way until we got back to the Center.

I trudged through the door and walked past Nurse Joy, and to my room. I made sure that Tina shook herself off a little before we walked inside, and then, for good measure, I recalled her into the Pokeball. I didn't want to get dirt all over the lobby of the Center.

When I got back into my room, I set Tina's ball down on the bed, and took my shirt off.

I took a look at my bandages. Nothing was red or bloody, but it was still sore, and it had been on there for a while. I figured that it would be a good idea to switch the bandages.

It couldn't be that hard to do.

I slowly took off the wrapping around my shoulder. It was more than ugly, it was disgusting. It was still healing, so I hadn't exactly expected it to be pretty, but… it was a closed, red mark on my skin. The tissue around my wound was all messed up and had its own little rips and tears that were healing. I only knew a little about gunshots, but I knew that when you got shot, it wasn't just the place that you got shot at that was hurt.

My entire shoulder was sore, and would probably stay that way for a while. The force spreads out in waves, or whatever. I was just lucky that my artery didn't get hit, and that the bullet didn't affect my bones that much. The rest would heal in time, but I imagined that the wound wouldn't fully heal for a month, at least more. I knew that it had already been accelerated with the medicine and Chansey egg I'd been taking- it had been distributed in the food, from what I'd heard, so I'd been eating it already.

It also looked like the bullet had been a normal kind of ammunition, and nothing like a hollow point or anything like that. Those kinds of bullets are worse, and do more damage to the body. So, really, I was doubly lucky.

The bullet had exited my body, too, and there was a hole that was mostly closed up on the back of my shoulder that was twisted. It looked like a twisted, red, angry star, with five or six points. It wasn't bleeding, and I had managed not to tear either hole open yet, but I wasn't going to take chances, and I was going to try to not open it again, if I could.

I took my time, and wrapped it as best as I could, trying to copy how the nurse had done it. The bandages she'd done were in the trash, and she wasn't here, so I had to do it on my own. I managed to wrap myself without injury, though it wasn't neat in any sense of the word. The bandaging was loose, and I tied it off poorly. Still, I was sure that it would stay in place.

Once that was done, I turned my eyes towards the Pokeball on the bed. I almost released Tina, but I thought better of it. Instead, I went inside the bathroom and turned on the faucet in the tub, and waited a few minutes, plugging the bottom of the tub so the water didn't drain out.

When the tub was full of warm water, I released Tina inside it, and watched her fall inside the water. Even though she tried to scramble out, it was hard for her, and she slipped several times, getting more and more wet each time. By the time she got out, she was already mostly clean, and I grinned at her. She huffed like the child she was.

"Larv!"

I only laughed and tried to towel her off, without much success. Even with a towel, I had to be careful, because it had a tendency to tear on her hard body if I tried to dry her with too much force, especially when she was trying to pull away. It was almost like bathing a dog- they didn't want to be clean, for whatever reason, so you had to force it.

"Tina, just- stay still!"

She stopped struggling and allowed it, but by the end, even though she'd fallen in the tub, the towel had gone from a dark blue to a brown black, just from how much dirt there was all over her, and inside the various little grooves and pockets on her body that I had to clean. I tossed the towel to the side, unsure of what to do with it. I knew there was a staff that came regularly, every morning, to give people clean towels and that sort of thing. I'd just give it to them, I guess.

I noticed that, while she was bathing, she had been wincing a bit- the water was hurting her. I knew it would do no permanent damage- it might've even been a good idea, in a way. It would most likely help her with her resistance to water, get her stronger, and keep her clean. I was considering starting to bathe her more often, especially after she ate, when she was the filthiest.

She was also… softer, for lack of a better word. She wasn't actually soft by any means, but her skin and her body were just a little smoother and softer after the bath. It was still as hard as a rock, but the difference was clear and evident. It obviously wasn't permanent, but it was something I had noticed while cleaning her.

A clean, frustrated Tina waddled over to the bed and hopped on top of it. She was a cute, walking rock. I lay down next to her.

"So, now what?" I said, more to myself than to Tina.

"Larv."

"That would mean something if I could understand you, you know," I said.

"Larv."

"Yep, Larv, indeed."

We laid there for a little while. I was mostly resting, and I think Tina was ready to do something, but she was just waiting for me, which I appreciated. Even though she was mostly easy going and, as a child should be, carefree, she also understood the world around her with a maturity that I was surprised to see from her, even though she was turning to an 'adult' much faster than a human would.

Thinking about her maturity made me think about how hateful she'd been when she was attacking the Rockets, which reminded me of the Rocket Raid, which reminded me of when I'd shot and killed some of the Rockets- and their bodies and slid over, and the ones that had jumped over the counter and just fallen over on the floor and hadn't gotten back up again-

The nausea came back, nearly as strong as ever, but I managed to keep my dinner down that time, even though it was hard to. I lay there; hand clamped over my mouth, and tried to calm down my stomach and my mind, with no luck. The same empty feeling came back again- the hatred of the Rockets, with the guilt and self loathing buried inside of it.

Why was this bothering me so much?

Slowly, but still too slow, the nausea went away. My stomach went from swirling to still, but I wasn't about to trust my stomach again. I didn't move or get up for a few minutes after it went back to normal. Only after that did I try to get up. Moving didn't start anything again, which was good, but the more this happened, the more it worried me.

Was I going to nearly puke every time I thought of it? I had to get over this eventually. This couldn't just keep going on and on like this forever, this was ridiculous. I suppose feeling bad about killing them was good- and there it was again, and I was gagging- but this had to have an ending point. At some point, sooner or later, this had to stop.

Waiting it out might be my only option.

It was while I was recovering from the latest bout of nausea that Brianna walked in.

"Are you still getting bothered by that?" She asked, walking inside and closing the door. She had changed clothes.

"Larv!"

Tina let out a cheerful cry when she saw Brianna, and she leapt from the bed, and went and hugged Brianna's shins. She leaned over and pet Tina, but her eyes remained focused on me.

"N-no, I'm fine," I said, but my stomach lurched again and I had to make a bigger effort to contain the vomit that was rising up in the back of my throat. She let out an exasperated, angry sigh.

"You're being ridiculous! You aren't fine at all; when you're puking for no reason, you can't call that fine! What's wrong with you, Daniel?"

She seemed desperate. I sighed and told her.

I told her all about how I had shot and killed people, and how my guilt was affecting me now. It took me a few minutes to explain it, but I think she understood it, by the end.

"So, every time you think of it, it just… comes back, like that?"

"Basically, yeah. It's just… it's really hard to ignore it. And the smallest thought just brings it all back," I said, throwing my hands in the air at the impossibility of it.

"You need to calm down," Brianna told me. "It's not your fault," she said.

"I know that it isn't," I said, "but that doesn't mean the guilt just goes away."

"It hasn't been as bad as it was before, but I'm still feeling nauseous. How were your parents, by the way?"

She perked up a bit at that.

"Oh, they were fine. They, uh… well, I told them about you, and they want to meet you."

I laughed a little at that. I had no problem meeting her parents, but the way she put it was more than strange.

What was I, her boyfriend or something?

"I… I don't have a problem going, but isn't it a little late?" I asked.

"And I'm going to be up all night because I went to bed so late," I added.

"It's no problem," Brianna said. "So, do you want to leave now?"

"I think I'll be fine," I said. I tried to shake off the feeling of depressing guilt.

I'd heard before that guilt and stress could cause physical problems- nausea, specifically- but I'd never experienced it before. I sure was now, though. I was surprised I was able to keep my dinner down, but I wasn't sure it was going to be the same next time. I still had a little money left in my backpack- I could go buy over the counter stomach medicine.

Maybe that'd help.

It was better than doing nothing, at least.

"Sure, but we have to make a stop, first," I said. I got to my feet, though I was shaky, and my body wasn't strong at all. I wavered. I felt like Brianna could poke my chest with a finger, and I'd fall over. I went to get my backpack, and I got the last of the money I had out of it.

"What are you going to buy? And this late at night? There aren't many stores open."

"I'm going to go get medicine for my stomach. Nothing major, just some over the counter stuff. You guys have that here, right?" I turned to Brianna for confirmation.

She nodded.

"If you think it'll help," she said.

"It might. I might as well try it," I said.

"Larv?"

"It's just my stomach, Tina," I said. "Now here, c'mon. Let's go," I said.

We left the Center, and while we were leaving, I noticed a different Nurse Joy at the desk. They had finally switched shifts. She waved us goodbye as we left.

It was a little chilly out this late at night, and I shivered as we walked through the town. There weren't many people out and about at this time. I saw a few people who were walking, but not many. More than three quarters of the stores were closed and dark, but we eventually came by a large shop that looked like it was still open.

I pushed my way inside, with Brianna and Tina following me, and the little bell on the door rang as we entered the place.

There was an old woman at the register, and she looked surprised to have a customer, but she didn't approach us, which I appreciated. I'd never enjoyed being pestered by a shopkeeper or anything like that just so I'd spend money in their store.

It was almost like a big 7/11, if you could even call it that. It had candy, some limited food selection, and little toys and things like that. Some ingredients, cigarettes, which I wasn't surprised to find here, and then, on one row of products, I found something like that looked like cough medicine. It was almost hilarious what the bottle art was.

It was a Koffing and a Wheezing being banished by an angry Chansey, and a coughing man thanking her for her services.

Once I'd found the cough medicine, I kept looking in the same area. The selection of stuff was small, but soon enough, I found a small bottle of pills.

It was a product called Gutlax. Contrary to the name, it wasn't a laxative, but actually a product that would 'make your stomach as strong as a Snorlax's.'

It promised all kinds of things- that it would fix digestion problems, gas, and the thing that I was looking for, it would deal with nausea, as well. I gave the bottle to Brianna, and she nodded.

"I remember this. I took some of it, once, when I stayed home from school one time. I'm pretty sure it works," she said, handing the bottle back to me. I looked at it and shrugged, and walked to the register.

I placed it on the counter, and she ran it through the register.

"Stomach troubles, eh?" She asked. The old woman had a high pitched voice, just like you'd expect your grandma to have. I didn't bother responding. I was tired, and it wasn't any of her business.

I gave her the money, and I walked out of the store, opening the pill bottle immediately.

"You're just going to take them- right away?" She asked, as I downed four pills.

I swallowed.

"Yep," I said.

"How many did it tell you to take?" She took the bottle from me.

"Two? You took four."

"Yeah, I know. I was there," I quipped.

"This is just in case the nausea comes back. I'm hoping it doesn't, but… that should do it, I hope," I said.

"Fine," she said. She handed me back the bottle and I pocketed it.

"Do you want to go to my parent's, now?"

"Yeah, sure, lead the way," I said.

Tina followed me, and I followed Brianna. The walk was another thirty minutes of chilly air, and silence. We muttered a few comments back and forth to each other, but I could tell that we were both nervous.

I couldn't tell you why, though.

I definitely wasn't in a relationship with her, and I was almost certain she knew the same thing, that she wasn't in one with me. Still, with how tense we both were, it's like that's what we were walking towards. I was walking with her, nervous that her parents wouldn't accept me, for whatever reason, trivial or meaningful. She walked forward; scared of the same thing- at least, I thought she was.

I shivered from time to time. I hadn't expected it to drop this low in temperature, but I didn't mind it. It was nice- even refreshing, in a way. It was a lot more welcoming than the sun that had worn me out when I first left the hospital earlier.

The town wasn't exactly organized with strict areas for different types of buildings, but instead, had sort of soft cutoff points, if you could call it that. The marketplace merged together with the residential area, and then sort of tapered off until there were no more stores. Then there were houses and apartments for a good while.

We'd been walking past lit and dark houses for probably ten minutes until Brianna brightened up a bit and started running forwards to one house in particular. I followed her, and she got a key out of her pants pocket, and unlocked the door, with me following her. Tina trudged behind me, and once again, I was glad I'd cleaned her.

Brianna's house was nice.

That was easiest way to put it- it was just really nice. It was like one of those times that, as a kid, you go over to a friend's house, and from the first step in the door, you can tell just how well they take care of the home. Finding dust is like trying to find Jimmy Hoffa. The carpet is nice, the floors are swept, and the walls are clean. Even their choice of décor and the theme of the coloring- I wasn't an expert on any of that, but I was damn well still impressed.

Her house was a little larger on average than the other houses around hers. It didn't make Brianna appear rich, but her family was certainly well off. They had pictures on the wall, like most families did, and a large television in what I assumed was the living room. All of their rooms were nice and spacious, but still well decorated, without it being too cramped.

"Nice place," I said, as I stepped inside.

Tina followed, looking upwards at everything. It must've appeared a lot larger to her, and it was already pretty big to me. Her eyes were wide once again, with curiosity.

Across the room, on the couch, lying like she was some sort of ancient god of beauty, sat Ciri. She gave a bored yawn at the sight of me, cooed at Brianna, and didn't even bother acknowledging Tina, who did the same to her. Her nine tails spread out in different directions across the couch. It was a nice couch, and I was surprised that they let her sit on it- even if she wasn't an animal. I could only imagine that a Nine Tails shed a ridiculous amount of hair.

"Dad!" Brianna yelled. I heard footsteps, and from what I assumed was the kitchen dining room area, came her father.

He was a middle aged man, with red hair. I could see where she got hers from. He was well built, and even a little muscular, but wasn't really buff or anything like that, either- it was mostly lean muscle. A blue dress shirt hugged his chest and showed his definition, and the tightly fitting slacks he was wearing added to this.

In a way, he almost reminded me of a stereotypical father from the fifties. The only thing he was really missing was the tie. I almost expected him to say, "Now, son…"

He had me under a stern, judging glare, until it broke into a large, joking smile.

"So this is the Daniel I've heard so much about!" He crowed. His voice actually reminded me of my Dad's- strong, clear, and in control. He looked past us, where, just like a child, Tina was hiding behind my legs.

"This is Tina, as well?" I nodded to him.

"Yes, sir," I said, and he laughed at that.

"Don't call me sir! Makes me feel old. My name is Brian, Daniel," he said, shaking my hand.

"Uh, alright, Brian."

I heard another voice, a female one, from the kitchen.

"Is that the nice boy you told me about?"

Brian shouted back.

"Sure is! I'll bring him to meet you," he said.

We walked past Ciri and the living room and strode into the spacious kitchen. Either people had dinner really late in this world, or this was just a rare occurrence, because it was past nine, and they still hadn't eaten dinner.

I saw a red haired woman making dinner. The kitchen almost reminded me of mine at home, except bigger. It was almost refreshing to see something that didn't have Pokemon plastered all over it. The stove and the fridge, all of it, looked normal. It looked like she'd gone to my world and bought it, and then came back here right afterwards.

She turned around from the pot she was stirring.

She looked like an older Brianna, in a lot of ways. Like her husband, her hair was also red, but a lighter shade of it. His was darker. While his was a little more under control, hers was a lot more like her daughter's- frizzy, and untamed, yet still clean. She was wearing casual dark brown pants that really tight on her, and the blouse was form fitting. She was curvy, but not really fat, more like plump.

I could see where Brianna got her beauty from.

"Hungry?" She asked me, filling some bowls with the stew that she had simmering on the stove. I rubbed the back of my head.

"I had a bit of a late dinner, but sure. I can eat," I said.

Brian motioned to the set table.

"Sit down, sit down!"

I took a seat, as did Brian and Brianna, and Brianna's mom started serving us.

"My name is Diana, by the way," she said, as she gave me a spoon and a bowl. I nodded towards her, and smiled. Once everyone had a bowl, Diana sat down at the table, and we all began to eat.

The table was silent, and I knew what the lack of sound came from.

It came from awkwardness. Unease filled the air, and no one wanted to start the conversation. I dipped my spoon in the bowl filled with stew a few times until I decided that if no one was going to talk, then I was.

"Your daughter's very nice," I said. I had no idea where else to pick a starting point, and complimenting someone was an easy way to get on their good side. I received a smile from her Mom and her Dad.

"Well, I sure hope so," Brian said, glancing over at Brianna.

"With how I raised her, I'd be ashamed if she was anything else."

"She was actually there for most of the time that I was in the hospital," I said.

"Wait, you're who she was visiting? I just heard that you were a friend of hers," Brian said. He smirked, and then smiled towards his daughter, nodding.

"What were you in there for?" Diana asked.

This was when it got actually awkward.

"I got shot while I was fighting Rockets at the Center."

This resulted in two spoons hitting bowls and clattering, at the same time.

Brian stared at me in a new light. His eyebrows were raised, and he looked skeptical at best. Diana had a similar expression on her face.

"You fought the Rockets? Are you crazy?" Brian asked.

"Hey, I won," I pointed out. "Against more than one of them, even if Tina did a lot of the work," I said, pointing to my Larvitar that was napping near Ciri. She was passed out on the hardwood floor. No doubt with what she was used to sleeping on, mountain rock, wood was soft in comparison.

"Still, why even risk it?"

"I thought they were going to kill me," I admitted. "I didn't know what to do," I said.

Brian nodded.

"Fair enough, I guess. That's really dangerous, though. I wouldn't go doing that again if I was you," he said, sipping at the stew.

I nodded.

"Trust me; I'm not going to barking up that tree again anytime soon. I've had enough of that for a while," I said. I sipped at the stew, too, and ate some of the stuff inside of it. There was some meat that reminded me of beef, and some carrots and potatoes in there, too. It tasted pretty good.

"Some good stew you make, Diana," I said.

"Thank you," she said, smiling at me.

"I feel so strange calling you by your first names," I said.

"Why?" Brian asked, as he ate.

"Well, it's just most of the friends I had, whenever I would address their parents, I would just call them Mister, or Misses, or sir or ma'am," I said.

"First name basis, though? That's strange, to me," I said.

"Sounds like you come from a respectable background," Brian commented.

"Sort of," I said. "It was just how we did it back home," I said.

"You weren't born in Girk, then? Where is your hometown?" Diana asked.

At this point, I'd gotten so good at lying about things like this that I didn't even give it a second thought. Within moments, I'd already made something up that sounded believable enough to me, and so I sent it out of my mouth, and let my dishonesty begin again.

"Oh, it's small," I said, almost insistent. "It doesn't really have a name. You wouldn't have heard of it," I said.

"What region, though?" Brian asked.

"Oh, I came from… Sinnoh," I said. I was sure I heard Brianna sigh.

Brian looked at me, up and down, and then smiled, shoving his spoon back into his bowl.

"Well, that's very impressive, then," Brian said.

"Why?" I asked. I was confused. Why was coming from a region impressive- especially if I was a trainer? It didn't seem like it was anything that was worth writing home about.

"You've obviously worked very hard at that accent. I can barely tell," Brian said.

"I can hear it now, though, in your voice. You aren't from Johto," he said.

Oh.

"Oh, that. Yeah, right," I said. "I worked at it for a while, you're correct."

"So you're here as a trainer?" Diana asked.

I nodded.

"Yeah, I am. It was just something I wanted to try," I said. At least that wasn't totally a lie. Brian nodded, and he and Diana looked at each other with a knowing smile.

"I remember being a trainer," Brian said. "It was how I met my wife."

"Walking through the wilderness, catching, trading," Diana said, almost in a reverie.

"Good times," Brian said. "It can't last forever though. Unless you turn it into a career, it becomes more of a hobby than anything else. I never made it big as a trainer," he admitted.

"Won a couple of tournaments here and there, and I won a lot of trainer battles that I got into, but it never really went anywhere," he said.

"What do you do for a living?" I asked.

"I work for a company that has a division set up here. This is a small town, but it's closer to a lot of the larger ones," he said. "They're trying to expand into Johto, and they chose here as a starting point. It's actually really strange. I don't get why they didn't just build their building in one of the bigger cities- like Goldenrod, or Blackthorn, maybe? More customers are there than this little town right here," he said.

"I like it here though, so I'm not complaining," Brian said.

"That's nice," I said.

Silence continued on for a little while longer, until Brian finally said it.

I was expecting it, so in a way, it didn't surprise me, but in a way, it did.

"So, how long have you been dating my daughter?" He asked, with a straight face, as he ate more the stew.

I was eating a piece of meat at the time, and nearly started choking- and I had to pound my own chest for the food to go down. I swallowed what broth was left in my mouth, and breathed in and out a few times, before managing to ask, "What?"

"Have you two been dating as soon as you've met, or has the relationship only just started?" He asked. I almost wanted to laugh, but I could tell that he was serious.

Brianna made some sort of noise that was almost like a squeal. Her cheeks reminded me of the time that I'd burned my back from lying out on the beach all day long, one day.

"We are not dating, Dad!" She insisted.

Diana chuckled, and Brian did too.

"Sure you aren't," he said, smiling. Both of us glared at him.

He held his hands in the air.

"Fine, fine," he said, though I was sure that he wasn't done with that yet.

"So, what happened with you getting shot by the Rockets?" Brian said.

I coughed, and lowered my voice a bit.

"It's not something I want to talk about," I said.

Brian nodded.

"That's fine. I'm not going to push it. That's pretty brave of you, even if it's a little stupid, too. I remember I was at work when the Rockets attacked. I was one of the only places I didn't hit- I don't know why, stuff from a company can be pretty valuable," he said.

Disgust entered my voice.

"They're just a bunch of thugs. They can only steal what they can see with their eyes. Pokemon, valuables, and things like that. They aren't smart enough to do something like that," I said. Brian nodded again.

"Yeah, that's true, I guess," he said.

It reminded me, again.

Surprisingly, I wasn't as nauseous as I expected to be, but it was still affecting me as I thought about it. I tried to push it down, to suppress it, but it wasn't working. The only thing that the medicine was doing was buying me time, which I was still grateful for. I was still going to puke, though.

I coughed again.

"Where is the bathroom?" I asked.

Brianna looked at me with worry, and stood up from her chair, pushing it out. It screeched against the floor. I did the same.

"I'll show him where it is," she volunteered.

Brian and Diana didn't respond, and I assumed that meant they allowed it. Brianna walked as fast as she could without running. She led me to a staircase, and then up it, and to the right, before she stopped and opened a white door. I wasted no time slipping past her and shoving my head in the toilet bowl, after lifting the seat up. I wasn't as nauseous as I thought I was. My stomach lurched.

I waited.

After a few minutes, I was surprised that I hadn't thrown up. The nausea slowly left me.

"It's passing," I told Brianna, who was waiting right outside.

"It's passing. I think… I think I'm alright," I said, standing up.

"When is this ever going to stop?" She asked.

"I… don't know," I said. "It's getting a little better over time, though," I said. I couldn't hide the guilt in my voice. It was still affecting me, and I could barely get it off of my mind, at times. Shooting those people- it wasn't right, but it was. It was a conundrum that my mind couldn't solve, and even the advice that Hank had given me hadn't really helped.

"I just hope you get better," Brianna said.

"I will," I said.

We returned to the table, and I explained that I had just felt a little nauseous. I didn't need to mention why.

It was my surprise when the reason why was revealed to me.

"I worked in the medical field for a short time," Diana said. "Chansey egg, as great as it is, can actually cause nausea in some patients, especially if you aren't used to it. Did you get any? They don't give it to anyone, but if you got shot, you probably got some."

"Yeah, I did," I said. I heard Brianna sigh.

"I thought something was wrong with him," Brianna said.

"I guess not," I said.

The nausea was already becoming weaker than it had been.

I tried to make small talk for the rest of the meal, but it was getting easier to talk to them as I got to know them more.

"Really, a Nine Tails doesn't live for a thousand years?"

"No!" Brianna said, laughing. "That's just a myth," she said, waving her hand.

"It has no real basis. They live long, sure, but there are only a handful of Pokemon that live past a hundred years, and the only ones we know of that live for a thousand are Legendaries."

I nodded.

"That's interesting," I said.

I wasn't able to finish all of my stew, but I still ate some of it.

The rest of the meal passed with small talk, and after the meal, I kept speaking with her parents more, but it started to get late.

"I think I better get going," I said.

"Where are you staying?" Brian asked.

"The Center," I said, standing up from my chair.

"I can't have that! You can stay here," Brian said. "You can sleep on the couch."

"Uh, I would, but I left my backpack back at the Center," I said.

"Well, you're free to stay here any time you want to," Brian said.

He sounded so sincere.

"Thanks, that means a lot to me," I said. I turned to leave, and woke Tina up, poking her in the side with a shoe. She could be lazy at times. Then again, there wasn't much for her to do here, either. I was just surprised her and Ciri hadn't fought while we were here.

Tina yawned and hopped up.

"Larv."

"Oh, she's adorable!" Diana cooed. I grinned.

"Yeah, she is."

I walked outside and waved goodbye to Brian and Diana, who went back inside. I figured I would go back to the Center now and try to get some rest. I probably wouldn't be able to sleep, but there wasn't much else to do.

"Wait!"

I turned around.

Brianna was standing there, breathless.

She walked forward, past Tina, and kissed me on the lips.

She grabbed the back of my head, and pushed me into her.

She leaned into it even harder, and I wasn't so much kissing back as being kissed.

I could've sworn I heard her moan.

It was nice. It was surprising.

It really wasn't what I was expecting, but looking back on it, all the signs were there.

She pulled away, and smiled at me.

"I'll come over to the Center tomorrow," she said, and she ran back inside.

I just held my hand to my mouth, wondering what exactly had just happened, and what it really meant.

XxXxX

**That's it for Chapter Four. Not much else to say. This story might be even longer than I anticipated… it's going to go very into detail- as you can see, with 80k words, and only so many things having happened yet.**

** Hope you enjoyed it. Any questions/comments, in the review, please.**

** So glad to get this out. See you next time.**


	6. Chapter 5

After Brianna kissed me, I walked back to the Center, confused. I'd started thinking about it right after it happened, and I'd always seen her blushing. She'd always been a little coy- well, not anymore, but she had been before. She'd specifically told her parents that we weren't dating- but when what the hell was that? The thing she pulled back there? I couldn't tell if she was sending mixed signals or what.

Time passed by faster than I thought possible as I walked, and I reached the Center, surprised to even see the doors of the building. I sighed and pushed my way inside. It was around eleven fifteen by the time I got there. I'd been more jogging than walking, but I was still careful to not exhaust myself too much. My shoulder ached as I walked into the Center, but I ignored it. It would be a while before the pain really went away.

Tina had been mocking me the entire way back, and it clearly wasn't time to stop now.

She'd been making kissy faces, little cooing and moaning noises…

She was really showing just how adult she was, and oh boy, was she mature.

I turned back and glared at her for what must've been the fifth time, at least.

"Are you done?" I asked, exasperated. She shrugged her tiny little shoulders, like she wasn't sure. Her straight mouth looked like it was going to crack into a smile, but it barely held.

I sighed, and trudged through the lobby. The other Nurse Joy that was on shift waved at me, and I gave a wave back, but there really wasn't any heart in it. I was tired and confused, and while I probably couldn't sleep, I still wanted to just get to my room and rest, at least for now. I walked up the stairs, and lumbered down the hallway to my room on the second floor.

I opened the door and stumbled in, sitting down on the bed.

"Larv."

I nodded to her. I didn't even feel like talking. Tina yawned and laid down on the floor.

I got up for a moment, and turned off the light, before shuffling back over to the bed and lying down again. I probably wasn't going to get a huge amount of sleep, but I could try.

I was playing the kiss over and over in my head.

It had come completely out of nowhere, but again, looking back on it, it wasn't so surprising. I was more surprised in the end that she had even gone through with it at all. That could've had an effect on our friendship if…

If I didn't like her back.

But I did. I did like her back. It was a strange feeling. I had some experience with girls, but had never held a steady relationship. It wasn't even because I didn't like women. I wasn't necessarily nervous around them, either. I'd just never seen myself as that sort of guy, the kind that committed to a relationship.

I obviously was that guy now, though.

Tomorrow was only going to be more awkward. I knew what I was doing tomorrow, though, at least. I had an idea. I needed money, and camping the routes outside of town for an easy fight to win for some money sounded like a good idea. I figured I could try to go out tomorrow night and see if I could catch an Abra. I'd bring a few Pokeballs with me. It probably wasn't going to happen, but… I saw one once, right? Might as well try my luck.

I was lying down in the bed thinking for a while, and eventually, I dozed off.

XxXxXx

I woke up several hours later. I knew it hadn't been a full night because the second I woke up, I turned to the window with bleary eyes. It was still dark outside. It was hard to even see the clock inside the room.

I stumbled over a lump on the floor in the dark, and I almost tripped.

Once I managed to get to the light switch after a few more moments, I flipped it on, and narrowed my eyes at the harsh, glaring light. I was still drowsy, and it was a lot brighter than I would've liked. I covered my eyes for a second and then opened them again.

It was a lot better, then. I rubbed them for a few seconds and sighed, and then glanced towards the floor, wondering what I tripped over. My assumption was correct. Tina laid there on the floor, still snoozing, curled up in a ball. She was sleeping a lot lately, and I didn't know what to think of it. It was a question I'd definitely ask Nurse Joy, when I went to see her in a few minutes.

She was looking grayer. Her sage green was no longer uniform, and if anything, her hide almost looked like camouflage, because of how much the colors clashed. Some green there, gray here, and then more gray and green in random spots, in random sizes and splotches. She was obviously transitioning into a more gray-silver hide, and I was sure that meant she was evolving. It was the only thing that made sense- she was starting to look like a Pupitar.

I found my Pokeball and recalled her into it. I think it woke her up, but it didn't matter, because I was about to show her to the Nurse Joy anyway, and she'd have to be awake for that. That and I was going to catch an early breakfast, before going out to beat easy trainers for money. It'd be a good idea to get some more pocket cash so I had it in case I needed to buy stuff, and Tina would benefit from the strength she'd gain from the battle.

I pocketed my ball and walked into the bathroom to wash my face. As I did, it came to mind, and I gagged a little, and the nausea came back, but I didn't puke. It didn't happen. It proved that the Chansey egg had been a big part of it. That and that I was starting to be able to deal with it. I spent a minute resting in the bathroom, waking up, and washing my face.

I took a drink of the water, and then pulled my shirt down a bit to make sure that the bandaging was still on correctly. It was still tight and on my shoulder correctly, so I put my shirt back and walked out of the bathroom. I'd change it later if I needed to. Right now it was fine.

I left my room and strode down the hall, walking faster than usual. I didn't feel like wasting time today. I'd been taking it easy yesterday because that was my first day out of the hospital, but I'd wasted enough time as it was in there. Even if I wasn't going to get leads on the things I wanted to do, I could at least be productive. Having a strong team of Pokemon could only help me, and that's what I would work at for now.

I wasn't stupid, I knew the odds. Having to track down two people in one whole world is bad enough, but a legendary, a thing that some people don't even believe in, was worse. It was depressing, but so were a lot of other things, and just because I was in a bad position didn't mean that I shouldn't try, at least.

I walked down the stairs onto the first floor, and entered the lobby. The Nurse Joy from before was still there, at the counter.

I walked right up to her and asked her what I needed to know.

"To train for this job, you have to know a lot about Pokemon, right?" I asked.

"Well, yes," she said. She sounded uncertain. "What about it? Are you applying?"

"No," I said, sighing. "I just have a question about my Pokemon. Something I wasn't sure about. I figured you would know, or at least have someone who could tell me."

"What?" She asked.

Instead of answering, I released my Larvitar onto the floor next to me and pointed to the red beam as it formed into Tina. She was still curled up, but awake. She opened her eyes, but kept them in narrow slits to block out the light.

"You have any idea why she's like this? I mean, I think I know, but I'm not sure," I said.

Tina uncurled a little, but still tried to go back to sleep, on the floor of the lobby. She let out a cry that was no longer shrill, but much deeper. I got some attention from the other trainers in the room. They sent glances my way, some of them looking surprised to see a Larvitar. The Nurse Joy leaned over the counter and took a look at Tina.

She raised her eyebrows, then lowered them, and responded.

"My best guess would be that she's evolving," she said.

"Exactly," I replied. "That's what I thought."

"Does everything that she's doing, does it… you know, match the evolution process?"

Nurse Joy put a finger to her chin.

"I think so. If you want to look more in detail, I know that the local library has a book that has a small section on each evolution for every line of Pokemon. It's one of the big basic guides that most people have read, but you probably forgot the Tyranitar passage. Most people don't think they're going to get one," she said, smiling.

"Yeah," I agreed. "So, at the local library, then?"

"Yes, it should be there," she said. "They have multiple copies of that book, so you shouldn't have any sort of problem in getting it. "

"I think I will," I said, nodding to her. I recalled Tina into the Pokeball and went to get a free breakfast inside of the Center. When that was done, I left, and realized that I had no idea where the local library.

I could just ask someone on the side of the road.

Or I could have Brianna take me.

Brianna probably knew where it was, and I'd save some time if I just asked her, because I wasn't really used to the layout of the city yet, but…

Last night had been awkward, in a way. What would it be like if I just showed up at her house after that? I mean, I guess I liked her, but it wasn't that… simple. There was more to it. We were friends before and I didn't want that to ruin what we'd had before. Again, though, I was starting to realize that she'd been giving off signs about this a while before.

She had been particularly devoted to me while I was in the hospital, and she didn't really have a good reason for doing that- besides the one I had only discovered last night. Sure, we'd known each other for a little while now, but it really had only been a few days, and it just didn't seem realistic for someone to care about someone else like that without there being another factor in play.

The other factor that was in play was her feelings for me. It made a lot more sense when I looked at it like that. That's why she had been so adamant and so worried about me- nagging me, even. I wondered if she even knew it yet, or if she was as confused as I was about the situation. There was really only one way to find out.

I sighed and started walking from the Pokemon Center. It was still really early in the morning, though, and I had no doubt that not only would the library not be open yet, I was fairly sure that Brianna and her parents would still be asleep. I didn't want to wake them up, so I decided that looking for some battles early in the morning would be my best chance of entertainment.

I'd taken the rest of my money and put it in my pocket before I'd left, but I didn't plan on losing any of it. I was going to challenge kids that looked like easy wins. Call me a coward if you want, but I had only one Pokemon with a very strong weakness to grass and water, two common types. Not to mention other weaknesses like fighting and stuff like that. I wasn't going to go challenge some guy as old as me with four Pokeballs. I'd lose for sure.

No, I'd try to pick someone out who looked like they were an easy fight. I'd pick someone who looked like they were naïve and didn't have a lot of Pokemon. It would still be a fair fight, to be honest, because I still hardly knew anything about battling even though I'd spent a lot of years playing Pokemon games. There's a large difference between playing a game on a screen and a fight in real life, and there were a lot more things that you had to consider in a real battle that I hadn't learned yet.

Practice makes perfect, though.

I got to the outskirts of the town and stepped outside it. I tried to find something- a group of kids, maybe, battling, or something like that, but I didn't have any luck. They were probably in school anyway. I decided to wait at the entrance of the town and see what kind of battle I could get myself into.

I was probably waiting there for at least half an hour before some kid came wandering back towards the gate. He didn't look like he was hurt or anything, and wasn't in any sort of particular hurry, and he only had one Pokeball, based on the little waist belt thing that he had. I was going to get one of those eventually, but for now, my pockets were a fine place for my Pokeballs. Especially considering I only had one Pokemon right now, anyway.

As he walked closer to, I called him out.

"I challenge you to a battle!"

He opened his eyes, surprised for a moment, but then relaxed them back to the way they had been before.

"Fine," he said. He didn't talk much. He was a lot better than that one other kid I'd battled. He took the one Pokeball he had and threw it out onto the ground, catching it in his hand as it bounced back up.

The beam soon formed into a Raticate, and I'd be lying if I said that it didn't make me a little nervous. Granted, it was still a normal type, but it was evolved. There was a good chance that I could have a bit of trouble with it.

I took my own Pokeball out and released Tina, catching it back in my hand.

Tina was still curled into a ball, and I sighed. I poked her with my shoe a few times, and she yawned, and threw her eyes across everything around her. She eyed the Raticate, and then looked back at me, before getting up. She was lethargic, but she could still fight.

"A Larvitar," the kid said, mildly surprised, and impressed.

"Don't see many of them. Pretty rare," he said.

"I know, thanks," I said.

"So, one on one, right?" he asked.

"Yeah, sure," I responded.

"Want to start?"

"Sure," I said.

"Quick Attack!" he shouted, and almost faster than I could follow with my eyes, the Raticate disappeared and dashed towards Tina. The blow that Tina took woke her up a bit, and made her start taking the battle a little more seriously.

"Tina, use Rock Slide!" I yelled, and Tina followed through.

"Larv!"

Large rocks were ripped out of the ground, and they started to levitate around Tina. They were bigger than they had been before, even if only marginally, and I noticed that she didn't have to concentrate as much on using the technique. It still drained her, though, and like before, it wasn't worth using the move if it didn't hit anything because it would just make her more tired, and that was useless, then.

"Launch them!"

Tina moved her stubby gray arms forward, and the rocks as large as my head flew at the Raticate. At this point, both the kid and I had taken more than a few steps back to ensure that we didn't get caught up in the fight.

The rocks, as large as they were, still missed most of the time, and I swore as I saw them hit the ground. One did manage to graze the Raticate on the side, and I knew that had hurt, but it still hadn't done significant damage. If I'd gotten a direct hit with that, it might've been a lot better, but I decided that Tina needed more practice before I tried to use that move again. All it did was drain her energy with very little payoff.

"Tina, stop using Rock Slide. Just go for a Dig instead," I told her.

She voiced her agreement and dove into the ground, tunneling through it like it was paper. A few seconds past and she was already deep underground, and the Raticate stood in the middle of the area that we were fighting at, standing still, listening.

Just as Tina came out of the ground, the Raticate bit at her with its large teeth. It did graze her, from what I could see, with the dirt flying everywhere, but it also got hit by the Dig. They'd done damage to each other. Tina landed on the ground near me and stared down at the Raticate, which stared back at her with fury in its eyes.

"Alright, this isn't going anywhere," I told Tina, my voice low, trying to not let the kid hear what I was saying.

"Just start up a Sandstorm and keep tackling him until he goes down. You're better in Sandstorms than he is, and he'll hardly be able to see. It should make it easier on you," I said.

"Larv! Larv, Larv…" Tina said, and soon her muttering was hard to hear over the Sandstorm, though it was still faint and I could hear her making noise inside of it.

Both me and the kid had to take another few steps back as the clouds of golden sand engulfed the entire road and the grassy ground around it. It was roaring louder now, and I knew there was no way that the Raticate could see in there. Hearing would also be a problem, though it would have a better chance with that than with sight.

I thought I could hear the kid yelling something about smelling Tina, but I wasn't exactly worried about that, either. Sand doesn't have a very strong smell, compared to other things, but Tina shouldn't have that much of a smell either. She should have the advantage.

I waited a few seconds for the storm to get stronger before I started to shout commands into the storm.

"Tina, use Body Slam!"

It was faint, but I was sure that I heard a cry, indicating that she'd responded- and again, it was deeper than I was used to. It was almost like she was a male going through puberty, with her voice getting deeper like that. There was no other noise besides the roar of the sandstorm, and then I heard a cry of pain from inside the storm. I smiled. It had to be working.

I had no problems battling in a cheap way like this. Hell, it wasn't even actually cheap. Anything went in battles like this, and if the trainer wasn't prepared for it, especially like a gimmick like this that had to have some form of easy counter, then it was really just their fault that they lost the battle.

I heard a few more yells and roars, mostly coming from the Raticate, or so I assumed. It was still hard to hear it over the Sandstorm, but it was just loud enough that I could tell that one of the two was making the noises.

After a few more of these, the Sandstorm started to subside.

The clouds of golden sand, thick and deep, started to thin out and part a little. Sand littered the ground and the road. A lot of the storm had been wind, which was why the sand was only in small piles at the largest accumulations, and otherwise, it was mostly sparse grain spread out across the entire area the storm had taken up.

As it subsided and the air cleared, I got a better look at the Tina and the Raticate. Tina stood stalwart opposite from a bleeding, and heavily breathing Raticate. It looked wounded, angry, and tired, but not quite ready to give up. I gave the same once-over to Tina with my eyes. It seemed that she'd fared better.

Her gray, thick skin was barely cracked or scratched at all, and even when it was, it was very thin, and not deep or thick, in any way. The Raticate had probably gotten in a few hits, and he fought with nothing held back, which was admirable… but he was mistaken. He should've just stayed back out of the storm. I was waiting for a trainer to do that. It wasn't like Tina could just extend the storm forever, it had limits.

I could see that the technique had taken its toll on Tina. While she was unwounded, she was still fatigued- as much, maybe even more so than the Raticate. I sighed. It was no one's fault by my own, and my amateur battling. I'd learn in time, but I needed to stop making such stupid mistakes, even if this was only my second battle, really.

If I hadn't made her use Rock Slide, a move with low accuracy right now considering her inexperience with it, then she probably wouldn't be as tired. I knew she could keep going, though. This wasn't the end for her. She'd lasted through worse before.

"Tina, finish it with a Body Slam!" I yelled. Tina looked back to me, and her triangular eyes widened before they narrowed, and she nodded.

"Laaarv!" She cried as she charged, and as tired and as wounded as the Raticate was, it couldn't move much. I could tell it was trying to dodge with its slow movement, but what it had wasn't enough. One more hit, and she really threw all of her weight into it that time- slamming into the Raticate. It was launched back a few feet, then fell over, nearly unconscious, and coughing. It didn't look seriously wounded, but it still wasn't battling for the rest of the day, probably. The kid ran over to it.

He whispered some words in its ear, and recalled his Pokemon. I just motioned with my hand for Tina to come over, and she did, waddling slowly, taking her time.

The kid walked over to me, too. He almost looked mad at first, but he was a lot more mature than I thought he'd be for his age. All he did was sigh, hand me more money than I thought I was going to get, and then he went silent for a second before speaking.

"What do you think my mistake there was?"

I was surprised to hear such humility from him.

"You let your Raticate stay inside the Sandstorm. There's no way it can win a fight in there, especially without any kind of training for a situation like that. There were no agreed boundaries. You could've had it back out, because the Sandstorm does have a boundary, and then Tina would've been tired, but without any payoff for it. You might've won then. It would've been a lot harder for Tina to fight back," I said.

He nodded, like he expected that was it.

"I figured that was it. I thought he would be able to handle it."

I saw the look in his eyes as he turned his head down. I knew what he was thinking.

"It isn't that you put too much faith into him," I said. I was trying to say it without coming off as offensive. He looked up with widened eyes, surprised.

"It's… well, it is sort of your fault, but at the same time, you don't have much experience with battling, do you?" I asked.

"No, not really," he admitted.

"So there," I said. "Don't worry about it or take it too seriously. You'll get better in time as long as you learn from your mistakes," I said.

"You were at a disadvantage with a Normal type anyway," I said. "Me? I don't know what I'm going to do whenever someone has a grass or a water type. Lose, most likely. I don't know how to work around stuff like that. And my weakness isn't even just a double, it's a quadruple weakness."

He nodded.

"Thanks," he said, as he walked away. It was weird seeing the guy so calm like that, even though he lost, he was acting like the one who'd one- and not in a bad, cocky way, either. He'd learned from his loss and took it in stride, something I hadn't seen in a long time.

I nodded to him as he walked away, back towards me, and then I turned my eyes towards the road again. No one was coming for now. I sat down.

"Good battle you fought there," I said, looking Tina over. I was probably being paranoid, because she was really a lot more durable than I gave her credit for, but I didn't care. I didn't want anything bad happening, and then having her fight when she was wounded, that would be horrible. Better safe than sorry.

I checked her over, and she stood still while I did so, albeit she panted. There were some scratches here and there on her skin- more like her armor, really- but there wasn't much else. She'd taken a few decent hits, but she was made out of rock, so something like a Raticate wasn't going to be able to tear into her deeply unless it was extremely strong, and/or well trained. That Raticate had been neither, so she didn't have much more than a scratch or two.

If it took something like a large crack to weaken her, than a scratch was nothing.

"You should eat while we wait," I said. "Get some space, though," I said.

She didn't hesitate, instantly diving towards the dirt with eager cries coming out of her mouth. She hadn't eaten in seven or eight hours, and I knew that the fight had tired her, somewhat. Eating would both reenergize her and just be good for her in general. I knew that she had to get a lot of dirt in her to evolve, and that she was close. Getting more would only push her closer, which was what both she and I wanted.

She gave it space, like I told her. I didn't need to tear up the road or the grass near it, and so she waddled and ran along for a little while before she got a decent distance away. Then she immediately tore apart the ground and dirt like she usually did. She'd have to get another bath tonight. There really wasn't any other way around it; considering what she fought and ate, there literally was no other way around it. For her to be clean, she needed to be bathed every day.

It was sort of funny, because she didn't even like it, but I wasn't having her drag dirt everywhere she went, especially inside of someone else's house, like Brianna's.

I wonder if her pockmarks would be light brown, like last time, instead of black like they had been before. I figured that whenever I cleaned out her marks, that I was actually washing away and eroding several layers of dark soil, which is why it shifted from black to brown.

It was nearly six thirty when the next trainer approached. Tina ate for a while, and then stopped, jumping out of the network of tunnels she'd created underground, and shook herself semi clean like a dog. She walked back and stopped next to me, and I recalled her into her Pokeball. I didn't want anyone knowing what type I had.

More than one trainer appeared in the time between the first and the next one that I battled, but they weren't ones that I was going to battle. They either looked too experienced, or had too many Pokemon for my liking. I sort of stood off to the side and decided whether or not I would fight them. I wasn't easy to see, and if I decided that I didn't want to battle, and then they wouldn't even see me as I moved more to the side and stayed hidden.

If I did want to fight them, then I'd jump onto the path, and call them out.

The next kid I fought was a lot closer to my age. He was maybe fourteen, fifteen. It looked like he was a novice trainer- definitely doing this for more than just a hobby. Probably taking it seriously, but only started recently, because he only had one Pokeball.

"Hey, I challenge you!"

The kid sighed, and he sounded exasperated with me.

"Really? You're camping?"

"Sure, why not?"

"Seems pretty juvenile to me," he said, as he reached for his Pokeballs.

I reached for my Pokeball.

"Says the guy younger than me. And I never said you had to battle. You can just walk past me. You do know that, right?"

He shrugged.

"I could. It's looked down on, though, and even though it's not an official rule, you basically have to take every battle you get, unless your Pokemon are hurt or something. Then you can't battle, obviously," he said.

"How many Pokemon do you have?"

"Me? I have one," I said.

"So one on one, then," he said. "Alright, fine by me."

His hand fiddled around his belt, dancing between the Pokeballs that he had. He was clearly having trouble choosing, and only between two Pokemon, to boot.

I wanted him to throw out his Pokemon first. I didn't want him to know what I had. He had to go first anyway, because he was the one with more options. I was just going to wait until he chose his. I wasn't going to take the disadvantage if I didn't have to.

"Fine, I'll go first," he said.

He chose one of the two and hurled it at the ground, catching it on the bounce upwards.

"Rill," the Pokemon that he released said.

It was a round, blue Pokemon, with a pudgy body, big ears, and a long, zig-zag tail with a blue ball at the end of it. Its stomach was white, and it seemed happy to be out of its ball.

Fuck.

He had a Marill.

Well, I knew this was coming eventually, so it wasn't such a surprise. That didn't mean that it didn't suck, though. I released Tina, who stared right ahead at the Marill. She seemed ready to fight, and I knew that the rest in her Pokeball had done her some good, which was good, because she was going to need it.

"Wow, a Larvitar? That's rare," he commented.

"Too bad that even if it's a rare, strong Pokemon, it's still a Ground and Rock type, and I doubt you have it trained to take more than a few water hits," he said

I glared at him. He was right. He was probably going to win, but I wasn't going down without a fight.

I didn't bother responding to him. I just started the battle.

"Tina, use Dig!"

She cried in response and jumped into the soil, soon disappearing. I saw his Marill bounce up onto its tail. It was trying to predict where Tina would come from. It reminded me of Ash's Pikachu when it did that. He had at least taught it some tactics, then.

"Tina!" I shouted, towards the ground. I knew that she could hear me from underground.

"Don't commit!"

The kid looked confused by my order, but I was pretty sure that Tina knew what I was talking about. Both of our Pokemon were fairly untrained, so he had the extreme advantage, but I had a few ideas and tricks up my sleeve, and I wasn't going to not use them.

The ground next to the Marill burst open, and as it did, the Marill jumped upwards into the air and immediately puffed its body like it was about to vomit.

"Water Gun!" the kid yelled, and the Marill followed through.

The Marill spat a strong, thick stream of water right at the hole, expecting Tina to jump out and be hit by it, but nothing happened. He was hitting nothing, and the only thing he was really doing was making a pool of mud water.

Another hole next to the Marill burst open, and in a panic, it switched its water from the previous hole to that one. But again, Tina didn't surface, and I pumped my fist and cheered for her on my side of the field.

"Tina, use a Sandstorm! Try to distract it!"

She burst open one more hole, and then from inside the holes that she'd made, golden clouds of obscuring sand leaked out like a deadly mist. They surrounded that half of the field more than my half, and the storm was thicker over there than it was here. I could hardly see the Marill anymore. The storm was still weaker than it usually was, though, which proved that Tina didn't have as much energy as she'd had before.

This kid wasn't as naïve as the other was, though, and though I couldn't hear him, I knew what he'd yelled. The Marill ran through the storm and out the other side, closer to my side of the field. It bounced on its tail again and tried to listen.

As Tina popped in and out of the ground like a Whack-A-Mole, and I watched the Marill miss and fail each time, I was in a complete rush. Was this what a really good battle was like? I was used to stomping people that didn't know what they were really doing, but this was much more interesting. It was a challenge; it didn't end so quickly, it was face paced, it was…

It was invigorating.

After a few more holes, the Marill was completely and utterly paranoid, watching from any direction at the holes that littered the field all around her. One more hole popped up, and she shot water at it.

As she did, Tina launched herself from a hole behind her as quietly as she could manage.

It wasn't enough, though, because the Marill still heard her. Tina was hardly about stealth and grace, after all, and Marill had huge ears.

"RILL!"

It shot a beam of water that blasted Tina right in the upper body- in the face and stomach. Her chest, too, but the way her body was built, her chest might as well have been her stomach. She was still so small that it was hard to tell.

That was one of the first attacks that I actually saw hurt Tina. She didn't stop flying through the air because she was already going, but her cry of pain was easily audible all the way back to where I was standing, even with the weak Sandstorm in the back still going. The kid had moved past it, on the side of the road, giving commands to the Marill.

"Keep hitting it with Water Gun!"

The Marill continued launching water attacks at Tina as she flew. She hit Tina twice more before Tina slammed into her with all her weight, and being soft and light like she was, the Marill didn't have much weight to stand and take the hit. It flew back a few feet, but didn't knock out. It got back up, though it was breathing heavy, and it took a while for it to get back up. It had a huge mark on its stomach, and it winced when it moved.

Tina wasn't faring any better. She lay in a puddle of muddy water on the ground, trying to get up and nearly slipping in the liquid. That had definitely hurt her. She couldn't take many more of those kinds of hits. She groaned as she stood.

"Dive back in the ground and close the gap, Tina," I said. She obeyed, and disappeared.

"Close battle here so far," the kid called over, and I nodded to him.

I probably only needed two more hits to knock the Marill out. Admittedly, it would only probably take one to knock Tina out, so I couldn't afford to make any mistakes.

Tina launched herself out of a hole behind the Marill.

"LARV!"

The Marill turned around, letting loose both a shriek of surprise and a gush of water larger than the one she'd blasted before. Tina got hit head on in the face, and I think she knocked out right there. The Marill was tiring, though, and didn't have time to move. So, instead, she got a two hundred pound muddy rock missile, right in the stomach.

It sent the Marill flying. Tina was already unconscious, lying in the muddy puddle.

The Marill barely managed to get up, and she winced and started walking a few steps towards her proud smile, who had a smile on his face- but she fell over halfway and promptly went unconscious. It was still his win, though, because Tina had passed out first.

It wasn't shocking or horrible- it hadn't even been an important battle. It was humbling, though, my first loss the realization that yes, I could lose, and yes, both Tina and I weren't invincible, no, not even close.

I walked past the kid, who was holding the Marill's ball in his hand.

I walked over to Tina, who was still unconscious, lying in the muddy puddle, for me.

I took the ball I still had in my hands, pointed it at Tina, and shot the beam, drawing her inside the ball. I sighed and put the ball to the side.

The kid was still smiling when he walked up to me.

He shook my hand, and I was so surprised that I almost didn't even shake back.

"I was sort of annoyed when you were just waiting there like that, but that was a great battle," he said. "You're a lot better than you think, you know. I know that I wouldn't have been able to pull that off with a disadvantage like you had."

"I still lost though," I said. "That was my first loss, too."

He shrugged.

"What are you gonna do? You can't always win. You still did really well, anyway."

I reached for my wallet, but he put a hand up.

"No. I'm not interested in your money, I have plenty. The battle that we just had was reward enough," he said.

"Are you sure?"

"Do you really want me to take your money?" He asked me.

"No," I said, laughing.

"Well, okay then! Don't look a gifted Ponyta in the mouth," he said, walking away.

And that was how I lost my first battle, but came out feeling like I was the one who'd won. I watched him as he walked away.

"Hey, what's your name!?" I yelled to him down the road. I was wondering whether he could even still hear me or not, but he turned around and yelled back to me before he continued inside towards town.

"It's JAKE!"

Jake, huh?

I'd remember him. If I ever saw him again, maybe I'd battle him again, and see if I could beat him that time.

Once he'd left, I immediately released Tina from her Pokeball, back onto the ground. She was still unconscious, which was hardly surprising. It was probably nearly seven now, and the light was starting to really shine. I sat on the grass and waited for her to wake up. There wasn't much else I could do.

It was another twenty minutes before she even stirred, and I realized that she was going to really need rest before I battled again with her. I recalled her again and put the miniaturized ball into my pocket. I walked back into the town and wandered aimlessly, not really heading in any specific direction. I was really just walking to walk.

When I had nothing to think about, though, and no one to talk to, it always brought my mind back to what I'd done. Even if the nausea had for the most part ceased, it didn't mean that the memories, or my guilt, went away.

I stopped next to one building and slid down it, taking it easy on my wounded shoulder.

Was I really right to kill those men? They'd threatened to kill me, so that right there was a point in my favor, but I could've just as easily used non lethal shots and knocked them out or otherwise made them unable to fight. Not to mention the anger and the… satisfaction, the joy, that I'd felt while shooting them. It was a vindictive shameful moment, and no matter how much I wished that I'd never done it, or it had never happened, it did.

It still happened, no matter what the situation was, or for how long the moment lasted.

I couldn't keep persecuting myself over it, either. I had to make a decision. I had to do something about it, make some sort of decision.

The best thing to do would be to just put it out of my mind.

Could I really do that, though? Not even coming to the question of whether it was possible or not- could I just forget about people I killed, just like that?

I knew that's how psychopaths and sociopaths did it, but did that make me one of them?

I kicked the ground in front of me, and scuffed my shoe. I felt like hitting something. The entire situation was frustrating, and I had no idea how to really deal with it.

Fuck it. I might as well try.

I tried to put it out of my mind. Tried to think of something else.

I knew that it wouldn't go away immediately, but I could try to do other things in the meantime that would distract me.

I walked up to a woman walking down the street.

"Excuse me, but I'm new in town. Could you point me in the direction of the library?"

She smiled at me.

"It's a good thing to hear, what you just said. Not many kids read anymore. Sure. It's just down that way, and then you take a left, and then you take two rights, and it's right down 23rd street. Got it?"

"Yes, thank you," I said, smiling at her. The woman walked away.

I followed her directions.

While Tina was knocked out, I might as well read up on her. It was as good a time as any other, and I had nothing else to do.

It took me a few minutes to get to the library. When I got there, I stepped inside.

I could've sworn I heard crickets chirping with how quiet it was. The damn place was practically deserted. I wasn't surprised, because it was so early in the morning, but I'd still expected more people, somehow. Looks like some things never changed, in between dimensions, even. People still didn't like to read.

There was one old woman holding the fort, presumably the librarian.

I walked over to her.

"What do you have on guides about Pokemon?" I asked her.

She adjusted the glasses that hung right on the tip of her nose.

"Well, let's see," she said. "I know about the Evolutionary Wikipedia. That might help you," she suggested.

"That sounds right," I said. "Where is it?"

"It's in the seven hundred to eight hundred section."

"Thanks," I said, starting to walk around the library. I tried to find the first little sign with the numbers on it so I could determine where that was. It took me a second, but the shelf in front of me was 1000. I looked to the right. 1100.

I turned around and started walking in the opposite direction, heading for the 700-800 section. It took me a minute or two to find it, but once I did, I started looking through all the shelves. I started somewhere around the s's, and it took me another few minutes to navigate all the way through, because the library was pretty big.

Eventually though, I found the E's. I looked up and down the shelves for a few more seconds and found what I was looking for.

The Evolutionary Wikipedia. Holy crap, this thing was big. It looked like a murder weapon. It was more of a tome than a book- certainly big and thick enough to be considered a tome. It had a simple red binding on the outside, and on the first page, it stated that it was the fifty second edition of the book.

I took it and sat down on one of the reading tables they had in the library.

I went to the Table of Contents to see just what I was dealing with.

"Evolutionary process, types of evolution, differences between typing of Pokemon," I said, reading off the different topics. There were all kinds of topics in here, and the most daunting thing of all was how small and compact the typeface was. I could only imagine some course on Pokemon having this as the book you had to read for the semester or something, at a PokeCollege. I'd probably kill myself; this thing was way too huge. It covered everything, and to the tiniest, most insignificant detail, too.

After all kinds of theories about evolution- after some skimming on a few of the topics, it was revealed that it was still a widely studied field, and few scientists actually understood much about the evolution of Pokemon and the real process behind it. This was actually surprising- I expected there to be more knowledge than there was. A lot of it was data from experiments, some theories, different sections written by different people and researchers.

And then finally, after all of that, it listed specific information based on each species- and this was what most of the bulk of the book actually was, as it went extremely into detail about every single facet of the process- time related to each species, size change, change of organs and systems and how the body changed, how much energy it took up, how much stronger it made the Pokemon, how it affected their attitude, their feelings, and what kind of changes were specific or similar to different types, and the correlations they could find between them- hell, this thing just went on forever.

They had five pages alone on what happened when something pretty weak like a Rattata evolved. Five pages. On a Rattata. It was ridiculous.

That was under the list of normal types, though. It was listed by typing, and then numerically inside each list of type. So, I went to Rock, and looked at the crossover for Rock- every type that has even one Pokemon mixed with Rock. I skipped through those, and went to Rock/Ground. I had to skip past a few first, like the Geodude line, but eventually, I made it to the Larvitar line.

There were ten pages alone on what happened when a Larvitar evolved into a Pupitar- and again, it delved into theories and data, using Jargon and referencing studies and people I'd never read, and was probably never going to read. Still, despite it being hard reading material, it wasn't like it gave me no information at all.

It actually went very into detail:

The Larvitar, first, must consume an unspecified amount of soil. The evolution itself, after much study, appears to be based on the amount of soil consumed and the minerals inside it that give it energy. This, along with the addition of strength and experience gained by living and battling, enable the evolution to take place.

The Larvitar is normally a Pokemon in a height range of 0.27 meters to 0.37 meters, with a coloring that is mostly sage green throughout. This does not change, and is mostly uniform, save for the black pockmarks that are actually indents in the body, black in color because of the built up layers of soil. A small, stubby arm is on either side, and the large fin on top of its head is already formed, which is used in mating practices later in life, once they are Tryanitars.

The mark on its stomach will not change throughout its life- even through its later stages of Pupitar and Tyranitar. If it is blue, it signifies that the Larvitar is indeed a male- and oppositely, if a reddish pink, it confirms that the subject is female, instead. These are the normal characteristics of a Larvitar.

They will, upon beginning evolution into a Pupitar, the entirety of its skin will begin to warp from a uniform sage green into a silvery gray. It will not be entirely silver until the full transformation into a Pupitar, but it will still appear, splotchy and random in its distribution across the skin of the Larvitar.

In addition, regardless of how energetic or unenergetic the Larvitar was prior to the start of the evolution, they will become more and more lethargic and tired. Battle will still possible, but their desire to fight will certainly wane, and their strength to an extent, as well. It is recommended that battle is stopped entirely until their evolution into a Pupitar is complete.

After the first signs of gray on the skin, it can be as quick as a week, to as long as month before the Larvitar is completely finished evolving. Time spent evolving has no effect on strength, speed, or any other characteristic. The only thing it truly impedes is battle and training, so for trainers who own a Larvitar, it may be best for you to concentrate on your other Pokemon during this time, since the Larvitar cannot do much.

Furthermore…

It just went on like that, for pages and pages more. It wasn't boring, though. Now I knew that I shouldn't be making Tina battle- though I was sure that letting her eat a few more tons of dirt wouldn't hurt her in the slightest.

I sighed, and put the book down.

It was surprising that the evolutionary process took so long for the Larvitar line- while I'd been skimming through and reading about the Rattata line, it had mentioned that evolution took one or two days tops. I wondered whether or not this was because Tyranitar was much stronger than a Rattata, or if it was just because they were different.

I wondered how much bigger the transformation would make her- when she turned from Larvitar to the Pupitar. I was almost sure I'd seen size diagrams. I opened the book back up and flipped back to the Larvitar section.

It did have size diagrams, after all.

It used an average human male at the height of six feet as an example, and it showed a normal Larvitar- the tallest could barely get up to the knees, at best. The Pupitar, though, was a lot taller- it varied from around 0.80 meters to a full meter. Tina would probably be at my waist when she was a Pupitar.

Nearly three feet tall, or a little over, in the biggest cases. It was weird to think about that- how much bigger she was going to get. Eventually, when she finally evolved into a Tyranitar, she'd be even bigger than I was. Much, much bigger. If I didn't know Tina so well, I might actually be scared of her.

I wasn't, though. She'd already proved today that she'd never do anything against me like that, when she got knocked out for me like that. When she woke up, I was going to let her eat some more dirt. It couldn't hurt her recovery period. I didn't even think she needed to go back to the Center. She'd recover. She'd only been knocked unconscious.

I could've read up more, but I was lazy and didn't feel like it, and it was already getting close to eight or nine, and soon, I'd go back and visit Brianna. I was both dreading the visit and wasn't dreading it. Putting it simply, I was worried. I still didn't know what she fully wanted out of this relationship- I mean, I thought I knew. I thought we were friends.

Then she went and pulled that, and now I had no idea where she was going with any of it. I didn't know if it was a mistake, if she actually wanted… more, or if the entire thing was a misunderstanding, or if there was something else that was going on, entirely. I sighed and put the book back in the shelf. I walked for the exit to the library.

"Done?" The librarian asked, not looking up from her desk.

"Yeah," I said, as I walked out.

I figured I'd wait like another hour before I finally walked over to her house and asked her just what that actually was. It was still pretty early. In the meantime, now that I knew what to expect from Tina, I wasn't going to get into any more battles for the time being, if I could help it. Tonight, I wanted to see if I could catch an Abra.

I decided that I'd give Tina to Nurse Joy so she could heal, and then enough time would pass on the walk over to Brianna's house that it wouldn't be too early to visit. I was both excited about the visit, and dreading it. We'd left on more than awkward terms last night- well, I didn't know whether she felt awkward or not, but I knew that I did.

I spent the next twenty or thirty minutes walking back to the Pokemon Center, taking it easy. I didn't run or jog, I just walked. When I arrived, I stepped through the doors and walked right up to the Nurse Joy. It was still the one on shift from when I last left the Pokemon Center. I coughed and offered her up my Pokeball.

"She got hurt in a battle. How long do you think it'll be?"

Nurse Joy walked around the counter and into the back rooms, where they took care of the Pokemon. I sat down on one of the chairs in the lo bby and waited for a few minutes while she did whatever she was going to do- examining Tina, I imagined.

It was a few minutes of waiting- and once again, the thought came back to mind. Killing the Rockets. As soon as it did, I tried to force it out of my mind- think of anything, anything else. Tina, Jack, Jack's Mareep… Hank, anything else but what I'd done.

Brianna.

I thought of her, and it got my mind off of it.

I didn't know why it worked- but I focused on her, on the thought of her, and it went away, like it was magic. I still felt guilty about what I'd done, but it was easier and easier forget what had happened over time.

I was still trying to decide whether or not that was a good thing, though.

"The boy with the Larvitar?"

I lifted my head and raised my hand.

"That's me."

"I did a diagnostic of your Pokemon. It looks exhausted, not to mention a few minor wounds, but it looks like it'll be fine. And you were right, it was evolving. I suggest that you lay off of the battles for now."

"Yeah, don't worry about it. I already went to the library and looked that up after the battle. I won't be having her do much of anything until she's done evolving," I said. I got up from my chair, walked over to the counter, and took my Pokeball from her.

"She really doesn't need any extra treatment. I could if you really wanted me to, but she should be fine healing naturally, on her own."

"Yeah, I think she'll be fine," I said. "Thank you."

"Have a nice day," she said, as I walked out of the Pokemon Center.

I glanced at the clock in the lobby right as I walked over. It was around eight thirty, now. It seemed late enough that I could go and talk to Brianna, now. I sighed, put my Pokeball in my pocket, and started walking. My shoulder ached a little bit, but I ignored it. It was going to be sore for a few more weeks probably, at the least. I just had to get used to it.

I'd already been over it so many times in my head that I didn't think much about on the walk over to the house. I just did it, and that was the end of it. I plodded my way over to Brianna's house, not thinking about much. I barely focused on the settings around me. It was only when I was already knocking on her door that I realized just how nervous I was.

She answered the door, wearing casual clothing- denim pants, and a blue blouse. When she saw me, she smiled.

"Oh, hey, Daniel," she said.

She sounded so casual about it, like she hadn't kissed me last night.

I sighed.

"We need to talk."

Her smile slowly twisted into a confused expression, but there was no anger there. She simply didn't understand what was going on. Nodding, she called back to her father as she stepped out of the door.

"Be right back, Dad!"

She closed it behind her, and then she motioned to me.

"What is it that you want to talk about?"

"You know what," I said.

She frowned.

"Last night?" she asked.

"Of course last night, what else would I want to talk about?"

"I don't know!"She exclaimed.

"You know, you're really sending some mixed signals here," I said. "First you tell your Dad that we aren't dating, and then you do that. Why?"

She turned away from me, and sighed.

"I don't know," she admitted. "I just went with what felt right in the moment," she said.

"I don't know, was it really what you felt?"

She stomped her foot on the ground, turning back to me with a glare on her face, directed at me.

"Daniel!" she shouted, frustrated.

"What? I'm asking you. I thought we were friends, and now it feels like you want something more," I said.

She sighed again, and then looked up at me, with those beautiful emerald eyes.

"What if I do?"

I didn't respond right away. I had expected her to tell me it was a mistake- that she hadn't meant it, she had been too emotional, or any other excuse. I especially hadn't expected her to answer with that, and especially not in the way that she did, either.

"We're friends right now, though. I don't think I want it to ruin our friendship if it goes wrong- and I don't think that you'd want it either," I said.

It almost sounded like I was making up reasons to reject her, but I wasn't. I liked her back, to an extent… and I could see it growing if we were to continue with whatever this was. But I wasn't as stupid as I lot of kids that I'd seen in high school. A lot of relationships at my age, or a little older or younger, were mostly filled with drama and multiple breakups and reunions. They focused too much on the physical and not enough on the mental and the emotional, not to mention that I didn't want what I had with Brianna to turn into a shitty teen drama relationship.

"We could try," she suggested. She stepped closer to me. Her voice was quiet, like a soft breeze in a silent forest. She was practically pressing right up against me, breathing against my neck.

"We could," I managed to say. It was more than tempting to do more than trying, right now. I wondered whether she was doing this in purpose to try to get a rise out of me, or if she was actually feeling like this.

"Is that a yes?" she asked. I coughed, and she smiled at me.

"I guess?" I said. It came out like a question more than anything else.

"Is that an I guess, or is it a yes?" she asked.

"It's a yes," I said, more firmly. She smiled at me, and leaned in.

She kissed me again, and this time, it was much more… I don't know how to put it. There was less passion, and more care put into it. She was much less forceful with her hands than she had been the night before.

The second she separated from me, she looked me right in the eyes, like she was expecting something from me. She didn't actually say anything, but I was pretty good at reading body language, and I could tell.

"Wow," I breathed.

She giggled, light peals of laughter escaping her beautiful mouth.

"Wow yourself," she said.

Once that was over, it became extremely awkward. I had no idea what to talk about now. I coughed, and motioned to the ball in my pocket.

"Tina got hurt in a battle, and I had to take her to the Pokemon Center. She's evolving," I said.

"Really, she is?" Brianna asked. I nodded.

"Good for her, and you, then." She paused, and then frowned, like something didn't add up. "You haven't owned her for long, have you?"

I shook my head.

"No, but she's pretty old for a Larvitar. I know that evolution takes place fairly early because of how they have to survive in the wild, but it might be a little bit old, even for her. I know she's been around for at least a little while- certainly long enough to have been eating dirt from that mountain that I got her off of the entire time. It probably sped it along once she got some actual fights in," I said.

"I want to be a trainer, but I'm pretty hesitant to battle," Brianna said.

"It isn't that hard," I said. "You should just try to get some practice. Do you want to go later tonight? You could always go right out there and train in the forest," I said, pointing towards the direction that led out of town.

"Sure, I guess," she said.

"It's just as well that I'm trying to catch an Abra, too," I said.

"An Abra?" She snorted. "Good luck. Those are like, impossible. I remember wanting one at like six years old or something, and going out one time at sunset or something. I saw a few, never got even close to catching any of them."

"It's mostly surprise and luck, right?"

"Yeah, basically, it is. You have to catch one off guard when it's teleporting, or some other lucky encounter. Their telepathy is so powerful, that even at that young age they're at, most Abra can still sense everything for a few hundred feet in every direction around them, and that includes negative intentions, like trying to catch one."

"What happens if you catch one, though?"

"What do you mean what happens then? You have the Abra," she said, frowning, confused. I shook my head.

"No, not like that, that's not what I meant. What I mean is, once you catch one, what's preventing one from just teleporting away the second you send them out? I know that Pokemon are, in general, slightly submissive to humans, but I don't think that would be enough to stop a scared Abra from escaping."

She bit her lip and put a finger to her chin.

"I'm not sure. Once you catch one, you're gonna have to look that up. There has to be something, or no trainer would ever have an Alakazam or a Kadabra, unless they bought them or something."

I frowned again, when she mentioned that. It brought something else that didn't make much sense to mind.

"That's another thing. I could understand regular Pokemon being a little apathetic about how they're treated- and not understanding their rights. But Alakazam… they're really smart, right? Like super smart. Kadabra, too- hell, most Psychic Pokemon are. So, how does that work?" I asked.

If anything, I could only imagine someone buying a Pokemon like that, and the Pokemon complaining and trying to get away the entire time. It was scary, disgusting, and sort of reminded me of slavery auctions, which was of course the worst comparison that my brain could think of and connect to it, which is what my brain did, of course.

"It's not really the Pokemon's decision," she said.

Wow, so basically, slavery auctions.

I didn't say anything for several seconds.

"Alakazam do have an IQ of five thousand, if I remember right from my textbooks… but the instincts still apply to them. There is one case of an Alakazam being a professor at a college, though. I think he still works there."

I could already imagine it- sitting in one of those huge, two hundred people rooms, and waiting for the teacher to arrive- and then watching an Alakazam float in and start writing things on the chalkboard with a telekinetically lifted piece of chalk. It actually made sense for there to be teachers like that, though. They were much smarter than humans.

It still got me angry, though. The idea of Pokemon not having rights. That's all it ever did. Get me angry. I sighed and tried to get my mind off of it.

"That's amazing, actually," I said. "Is he the only one that does that?"

"Sort of," Brianna said. "I never heard about any others that did that. Then again, that was just in the Johto region. It's possible that it could occur in other regions, but it's probably still rare, regardless."

"Yeah," I said. "I get it." I wasn't going to get into another argument about the treatment of Pokemon. I didn't like it, but I did understand it was something cultural, to an extent. At the moment, there wasn't anything I could do about it.

At the moment.

"Do you want to visit Jack?" I asked. "I don't have much else to do, and he'd probably appreciate the company," I said.

"Sure," she said. "Let me just tell my dad I'm going." She ran back into the house.

People here must sleep a little less than the people I knew back home, because it was early for her and her parents to be up. I left their house fairly late last night, and I can only assume that they stayed up at least a little later than that, after I left.

She came out a minute later, smiling at me.

"Alright, we can go," she said.

We started walking from her house, then, heading down the street, before turning.

"I think he'll be happy to see us," Brianna said.

"Sure," I replied. "Knowing him, he's probably already tried to walk like ten times now, and probably failed every time," I said.

Brianna giggled.

That was always the thing about Jack. He had never been an impatient person, but he could certainly get bored very easily, and boredom can, and almost always does, turn into impatience. I really was expecting to walk into his room and find him trying to climb out of bed, or something.

We talked while we were walking to the hospital.

"So, what's your world like?" Brianna asked.

That was a question I'd been expecting, but not right away, not like that.

"Well, it's… hard to explain," I said, laughing. "It's normal to me, but it'd probably be considered weird to you. We have a lot of guns there," I said.

"We have guns here," she countered.

"Yeah, I know, but I'm guessing whenever wars were fought, Pokemon were always the main weapon, right?" Brianna nodded.

"Yeah, no. No Pokemon where I come from, so yeah, there's just… guns, basically. A lot of guns. That's just one difference. I don't know what else you want me to tell you. One thing I can tell you, though- there certainly isn't Pokemon everywhere. Hell, even the current anime is complete trash," I said.

"That's the cartoon for Pokemon, right?" Brianna asked.

"Yeah. The first few seasons were good, but after that, and especially lately, the show has pretty much turned into garbage. This is how bad it is- and I'm not joking, either- I remember on one of the episodes of the newest season, the main character lost to a Snivy that a starting trainer had just gotten, when he had a Pikachu that he'd had for four regions before that," I said. Brianna remained straight faced for a few moments before giggling.

"What?" Her voice was high and full of humor.

"I don't believe that. No one can be that bad at battling, even in fictitious circumstances," she said. I shook my head.

"Nah, Ash is that bad, and even worse. I remember that it was the same Pikachu who's fought Kyogre and Groudon and stuff like that. That show is just horrible."

"Like a Pikachu could even handle a Legendary anyway. That's completely ridiculous," Brianna said. I nodded.

"What are Legendaries actually like, supposedly? They're gods, right?"

"Yeah, basically," she said. "I've never seen one personally," she said, putting a hand to her chest, "and one hasn't been seen in a mass spotting by a lot of people in a very long time, but they are real, I'm pretty sure."

"They're practically omnipotent when it comes to whatever field they're in- for example, Kyogre can basically do anything when it comes to water and the seas, and when it comes to land, Groudon could probably raise and lower mountains in an instant. It would be foolish to even attack one. Good luck even finding them in the first place, and then even then, no matter how much you trained, you still wouldn't stand a chance."

That, admittedly, crushed a lot of my hope right there.

I still wasn't going to give up, though. I was going to find Palkia and make him own up for it- and, if not, then I'd find Arceus and plead my case to him. All I really wanted was to go home with Jack, Terry, and Matt, and end this entire stupid thing. The world was cool, but it wasn't even that I didn't belong here. I actually liked it here. The laws were looser, Pokemon were here, which was cool and definitely a bonus. That wasn't the point. None of it was.

The truth was that each of us had people waiting at home for us. Jack had his parents, and his sister that had cancer. I had my own parents, and my own sister. Neither Terry nor Matt had siblings, but that wasn't the point. They still had parents, and aunts, and uncles, and other friends. Things like that. The reason why we had to go home wasn't for us, because if we had the choice, without the responsibility, we'd probably stay here.

That wasn't how it worked.

"Has anyone ever tried to actually fight a Legendary?"

"You'd have to be suicidal, arrogant, incredibly stupid, or some mix of the three to try it, but yeah, according to both history and myths, people have actually tried to fight Legendaries. As far as I can tell, one was about someone daring to challenge Lugia."

"Lugia? He has control over storms, right?"

There was a short silence was we kept walking.

"Yeah, he does. There's a difference between the historic proof of it, and the myth, but they coincide so much that most people believe it, these days," Brianna said.

"Here's how it went: Supposedly, this arrogant person, whoever he or she was, decide to challenge Lugia. Now, when I say challenge Lugia, I mean challenge Lugia. Not verbally, or calling him out at his temple, or desecrating some Lugia shrine. While that's all bad stuff, that's not what he did."

"The story goes that the person was either a father or a mother- again, it's impossible to tell because the myth is not gender specific- and had a horrible rage against Lugia because their child died during a storm. They trained a powerful team of Pokemon and went out to sea to assault Lugia directly, after searching for him for many years."

She was silent again for a moment, before she continued.

"It's a little scary, the ending. I mean, I'm not scared by it, but what it implies. Basically, after that, when Lugia finally ascertained that the person was actually serious and arrogant enough to try to do that, he grew angry. He understood the human's plight, but at the same time, the natural world does as it will. He isn't even responsible for all the storms in the world. Just ones that he conjures, which isn't many, and sometimes, people need a storm, like in a dry season, which Lugia reportedly does from time to time."

"So, what happened then?"

"Lugia, even though he understood why the person was angry, still could not allow such disrespect. He defeated the human in one swing of his wings, and in the same swing of his wings, created a hurricane that battered the entire coastline for forty days. Supposedly."

"Why do you keep saying supposedly?"

"Because it's still a myth, at the end of it all," she said.

"Well, what about the historical information, or whatever?" I asked.

"There were reports of repeated hurricanes slamming into one long coast of Johto, a long time ago. That's never happened since, and it hadn't happened before, so most people believe the story. The entire thing is also about arrogance and knowing your place, things like that. Even if the person had a legitimate gripe, the person's kid was dead, that didn't make it automatically Lugia's fault, and he shouldn't have tried to take it out on Lugia, or blame him for it. That's what it was, basically," she said, finishing the story.

"Wow," I said. "It sounds like it was kind of negative for either side."

"Yeah, it was," Brianna said, agreeing with me.

"The human lost his life to Lugia, who was angry that he even tried to attack him, and Lugia had his reputation tarnished, to some degree. I assume that a malevolent god would enjoy being feared, but for the most part, Legendaries are supposed to be kind, at least to a degree. They stay out of the way of humans because their power is almost too raw to control, not to mention that they don't have to talk to humans if they don't want to. Privacy, and all that," Brianna said.

"Even to this day, people say to never anger Lugia, or he'd cover the entire region in storms. It's just not very good for his publicity," she said, laughing.

"Do you believe in it?" I asked her. We were starting to get close to the hospital, by now. It was probably near nine thirty, and by the time we got to Jack, it'd probably be nine forty five, almost ten.

"Somewhat," Brianna said.

"I get that the story is there for morals and stuff like that, but at the same time, I don't like to believe it because it means that Lugia actually attacked all those people in his rage. He is a god… but that doesn't give him the right to do that. It just doesn't seem right to me," Brianna said. I nodded.

"I get where you're coming from. That isn't exactly a pleasing thought," I said.

She shook her head.

We chatted a bit more, but it was mostly awkward small talk while we walked the rest of the way towards the hospital. As time passed by and it set in, the thought only became more apparent, and more awkward.

We were in a relationship. A person I barely met a week or less ago was now my girlfriend and I hardly knew anything about her.

Well, that's just not true, the other side of my brain protested.

She's soft spoken, but she seems to have strong opinions about some things. She owns a Ninetails that's as beautiful as she is. She's loyal, she's caring. We don't know everything about her, but saying we know nothing is being too hard on ourselves.

I sighed. I guess I would learn more about her over time. That was how normal relationships progressed.

I was going to feel weird no matter what I felt. That was what I eventually decided on. I put that behind me and focused solely on walking to the hospital, and talking to Jack.

A small level of guilt was still left, as I walked into the hospital. The lack of anything else to think about, and the hospital especially, brought the thought back to me. It was like an echo, growing weaker in each repetition. I still felt guilty, but instead of it being something that was possessing me beyond measure, it was something that I could put behind me.

That's what scares me the most, I thought, as we walked to the front desk, and spoke to the nurse at the front.

I hardly concentrated on the conversation at all, and remembered very little of it, to boot. Brianna did most of the talking, so it went over fine.

"-We're actually here to see our friend, my name is Brianna, and this is-"

That's what scares me the most, I thought again.

It was what I had wanted, at first. To forget it ever happened.

"-as luck would have it, visiting hours only started just fifteen minutes ago, and-"

But wasn't that what psychopaths and serial killers did? The loss of human life, even at their hands, meant so little to them that it was so easy to forget. They enjoyed it, but the sanctity of life didn't mean anything.

"Thank you!"

Now, instead, it was something that I gripped onto. I held onto it, like a child held onto his mother in a crowded store.

"Ready to talk to Jack?"

I almost wanted to laugh. What a bunch of bullshit.

"Are you paying attention?"

I shook my head, and then glanced to the side at Brianna.

"Yeah, sorry. I was just thinking about some stuff," I said.

I didn't fool her for a second.

"The Rockets?" She asked, as we started walking up the stairs.

I grimaced.

"Yeah," I said.

"You've got to try to get past that," she said, as we reached the second floor.

"I do try, but it's not that easy," I protested.

She glanced at me with big, concerned eyes as we got closer and closer to Jack's room.

"Hey. Hey, stop," she said, grabbing me by the arm. I turned to look at her.

Her emerald eyes stopped me, and made me listen.

"You know I'm always here to talk to, right?" she asked.

I sighed.

"Yeah, I know. I guess… it just seems unfair, basically. It's been bothering me for the past few days, and now, I just thought about why I can't forget it, and why I have to remember it, instead."

She turned to me, frowning.

"What do you mean?"

I let out an exasperated noise, and waved a frustrated hand in front of me as we continued walking.

"I mean… it's just I finally started to feel a little less guilty about it, and started being able to put it behind me, and I realized… isn't that what people like serial killers and psychopaths do? I don't want to be like them. It feels like if I forget it that just means that I'm becoming more heartless or something."

"That doesn't make any sense," she said.

"Yes, it does," I countered. "People that actually have a heart, and kill, they don't forget about it. Even if it was someone they hated… and that's the other thing, the thing that makes it even worse. When I was doing it, I… I enjoyed it! I did! Because they'd shot Jack. I didn't stop punching that one guy until they'd pulled me off of him."

She put a hand on my shoulder.

"That's normal," she said. "There's no way you weren't going to feel some sort of satisfaction. Even if you don't like it, I really doubt that you weren't going to feel good about it. At that point, for all you knew, Jack had already bled out in the room upstairs."

"Yeah, I know. It's just… even if I know that, it doesn't make it better," I said.

She threw an arm in front of me as we were walking, and she made me stop.

Brianna turned me to face her, and made me look her in the eyes.

"I know. The only thing you can do, at this point, is keep going. You'll learn to deal with it. You're stronger than this," she said.

I sighed.

We were silent for the rest of the way, all the way to Jack's room. Thinking back on it, we had actually taken the stairs down when I was leaving the hospital for the first time. There was an elevator. If I had known that the first time I would've just taken it, but the walking was good for me, and now when we'd returned here, we just walked up the stairs.

It took us a few more minutes of climbing flights, and then walking down a few quiet hallways, but we got to Jack's room. I knocked, and then opened the door a few seconds later. Jack was inside the room, watching the TV. When he saw the two of us, he took the remote from the stand beside the bed, and muted the TV.

"Hey, Daniel. Brianna," he added, after a second.

I nodded to him, and pulled up one of the chairs that was on the side of the room, sitting on the side of the bed.

"Still feeling crappy?"

"A little. They still have me on painkillers, but it's limited, obviously. I try not to hit it too much unless it really starts to bother me," he said. I noticed the little button he had near him.

"How's the Chansey egg doing?" Brianna asked.

Jack smiled.

"Wonders. I got shot in the stomach and it's already repaired most of the tissue, or so the doctor says. The funny part is that it's not even on the level of a Recover from an Alakazam, or so the doctor says."

I frowned, confused.

"Alakazam can heal other beings besides themselves?" I asked.

Brianna nodded.

"Yeah, they can. If you look at the trauma center, there are a couple of Alakazam in there. Most psychic types can do it. Other types can as well, and any Pokemon with a healing move can actually use it to heal humans. Chansey is better over time, but Recover heals you incredibly fast in case something life- endangering happened. I'm pretty sure they might've used a light Recover on you, Jack," Brianna said.

"That's pretty useful," I commented.

Jack nodded.

"I think so, too. Even when I woke up the first time, even considering all the other stuff they must've given me, the wound already looked way too healed. I mean, I'm no professional, but I know that I'm not a fast healer, and with how much the wound had improved, it just seemed too ridiculous."

"Are there any downsides?"

Brianna nodded.

"To Recovering, you mean? Sort of, in a way. I mean, it's not really a downside… it's just hard for Alakazam to do it a lot. And the reason why a Chansey is better over time is because while Alakazam are smart and Powerful, healing isn't usually their specialty. A Chansey or a Blissey is usually better at that."

"A very strong trained Alakazam, though, that's something else. They say that they can save a human from basically death. Unless they're actually dead, an Alakazam can bring you back from the brink, even if you're shot and you've lost half your blood with broken bones. They're one of the most powerful Pokemon for a reason."

"Wow," I said.

"Yeah, it's amazing," Brianna said.

I grinned.

"Well, that's just one more reason to get it, then," I said.

Brianna sighed.

"You're hopeless."

"What's he talking about?" Jack asked, jerking a thumb my way.

Brianna giggled.

"He has it in his head that he's going to catch an Abra tonight. I'm not completely counting you out, but it's going to be pretty hard. They're rare for a reason. It's because they're nearly impossible to catch and keep."

I shook my head.

"I want a really strong team. I'm going to catch myself an Abra and raise it into an Alakazam. If someone else has done it, that means that I can, too," I said.

Jack nodded.

"He's right, you know. I mean, how many Pokeballs was it in Blue and Red?"

"You'd usually get in the first three or four balls, if you were lucky. All separate encounters, of course," I said.

Brianna looked confused.

"Blue and Red were the first two Pokemon games released- well, technically," Jack said, correcting himself, "The first two were Red and Green, in Japan. But then Blue came out later, right?" I nodded. "Yeah, exactly. Then it was released as Red and Blue in the U.S. That was the one that we had first, growing up."

"It's so strange, thinking about it. I still don't fully accept it," Brianna said.

"What, this place being a game that little kids played in my world?" I asked.

"Yes, that. It's just… so weird."

"Trust me when I say that it has been for us too. The funniest part about all of it is that even though we watched so many episodes of the show, and saw the movies, played the game and the trading card game… even through all of that, I still know so little about it. The game ran on game logic, as any game did… the cartoon, cartoon logic. Even though Ash always fought The Rockets, he was never killed or really hurt by them. More like inconvenienced if anything."

"They never did, really? Not even once?" She sounded skeptical, and after what had happened lately, I didn't blame her.

I snorted.

"No, of course not. Are you crazy? Jesus Christ. It was a show for kids, they could never show blood or cursing or anything like that, it's not allowed because of censorship laws and stuff like that- and rightly so, too. No kid needs to be watching Game of Thrones."

"Game of Thrones?" Brianna asked, confused.

I grinned, and Jack did, too. I did my best Ned Stark impression I could.

"The man that passes the sentence should swing the sword," I growled.

"So, murder?" She asked.

"No, execution," I corrected. "But yeah, lots of blood and killing and mature content. Stuff like that. I was just using that show as an example. The point is that even though we know a lot about Pokemon themselves, a lot of it seems to be false, too. Tyranitar are, supposedly, only six and a half feet tall," I said.

Brianna giggled.

"No way. They're usually eight feet, at least. I'm pretty sure the shortest one ever recorded is like seven feet and ten inches or something like that," she said.

"Not to mention they grow bigger as they age. Most usually hit nine or ten feet, following a few months after the first evolution," she said.

"Wow, really?" She nodded. "See, I didn't even know that. That's what I'm talking about. We know stuff about Pokemon… but we don't actually know anything."

Brianna shrugged.

"You'll have time to learn," she said.

I nodded.

"Yeah," I said, turning to Jack.

"How are you feeling?"

"Honestly?" Jack asked. "A little cooped-up. I know that I'm not going to be able to leave for a little while longer, but it's still annoying, regardless. I can at least walk myself to the bathroom, but that's about it, and even the trip there and back to the bed is pretty tiring. I'm just glad I don't have to use a bedpan anymore," he said.

"Yeah, I remember that," I said.

It had sucked completely. It was so humiliating, and as I'd mentioned before, I hadn't known what to expect because I'd never been required to have an extended stay in a hospital.

"Do you think we should mention it?" I asked Brianna.

She shrugged, but then she nodded, smiling.

"If you want to," she said. I grinned at her.

"Tell me what?" Jack asked. "Is it important? Something I should know?"

I waved my hand in the air like a see-saw.

"Ehh, sort of… see, last night, Brianna kissed me after I left her parent's house."

I leaned over and grabbed Brianna's hand, and squeezed it.

"I was sort of confused by it, so after getting into a few battles this morning, I went over to her house before we came here and asked her just whatever the hell it was. We talked it over for a little bit, and, well… we're dating," I said.

Nice job making it as subtle as possible.

Jack stayed quiet for a moment before bursting into a grin. Loud, happy words followed.

"Nice! Hope it works out well for the both of you."

I sighed.

"Well, that went better than expected," I said.

Jack laughed, but I could tell it was a nervous one.

"Well… what do you mean by that?"

"Were you scared that I'd… like I'd get mad, or something? That'd be dumb," he dismissed. I shook my head rapidly.

"No, no! Nothing like that, trust me. It's just that even if I know you're not like that, it didn't make saying it any less hard. There was still that fear there. I don't know, it's hard to explain. Anyway! Yeah, we're dating. Oh, yeah, Tina's evolving," I said.

"Really!?" He put his head on his pillow and covered his face in his hands.

He mumbled something that I couldn't hear.

"What was that?"

He took his hands off and laughed again.

"I said that while I'm stuck in here I'm practically missing everything. Next you'll tell me that you found Matt and Terry while I was in the hospital," he said.

"Now, trust me, that'd be the first thing that we mentioned," I said.

"I'd hope so," Jack said, grinning at me.

We talked for a few more hours. It was mostly just small talk, and we didn't discuss anything else that was really important. It was more about spending time with him so he didn't feel alone, than anything else.

The nurses kicked us out around one or two in the afternoon. We didn't complain, we'd spent long enough in there. We waved goodbye to Jack and left the building, and soon we were just standing outside. It was still early enough for a light lunch, though.

My stomach rumbled, and I knew it was loud enough to hear by the way Brianna looked at me. I chuckled and ducked my head, my cheeks aflame.

"Do you… do you want to go get some lunch?" I asked.

I was nervous, to say the least. It was basically the first time I'd ever asked a girl on a date, and even though I was pretty sure she wasn't going to, she could still say no.

Brianna didn't seem as nervous as I was, but I still noticed the light blush on her cheek.

"Is this a date?" she asked.

"Y-yeah," I said, my voice cracking, "I guess it is."

I sounded like a fourteen year old.

"Alright," she said, smiling at me.

"One problem," I said, grinning. "I don't really know the good places around here… want to show me?" I asked.

Brianna nodded, and grinned before she led me by the hand.

It was the afternoon now, and unlike the early morning, by now, lots of people were out and about. Lots of people saw us as Brianna held my hand and led me to wherever she planned on us eating at. She spoke to me while we walked.

"I know just the perfect place for us to eat at… I used to go to it all the time when I was little, and I haven't been there in a long time, but it should still be there… there it is!" Brianna said, pointing out this nice little place on the corner of a street.

We walked to it and opened the door.

Brianna breathed in the smell of the place.

"Just how I remember it," Brianna said, giggling at the interior. She threw her hands up.

"This place hasn't changed one bit!"

The place was mostly empty except for a few people here and there, but even they were eating alone. It wasn't a five star restaurant, and it didn't have a waiter or anything. It wasn't exactly the best kind of restaurant for the first date, but Brianna didn't seem to care. She found a table for us to sit down at, and smiled.

"I remember I used to come here all the time because I liked the names of the orders," Brianna said, looking around the restaurant.

"We'll sit here. We should probably go order," she said, walking to the counter. There was a kid there, maybe a little younger than I was, taking the orders. I could barely see through the open door that there were a couple chefs hard at work making food.

"Let me give you… these, to help you order," the kid said, pulling two menus and two pens from under the counter, giving one to me and one to Brianna. We spent a few minutes browsing through them, deciding what we wanted to eat. I was sure hoping that I had enough to pay for all of this. I'd won a decent amount of money this morning, and hadn't lost any of it yet, so I wasn't too worried about it, but still. Some of the most expensive items in here would definitely test my wallet.

"Filleted Magikarp?" I asked, reading this. I turned to Brianna.

"Is this… like, real?" I asked. Brianna shook her head.

"No, it's not. It's just sort of for marketing purposes. Eating Pokemon is a pretty huge taboo, to be honest. We have plenty of animals and fish in the wild that aren't Pokemon- that's all your world has, right?" I nodded.

"Look, right there at the bottom of the menu-" she said, pointing to the very end. I read the small subtext there.

Any and all orders featuring any Pokemon that is portrayed as a dish is false. It is merely prepared in such a way that it resembles Magikarp when it is served. We do not use nor do we condone the use of Pokemon as food.

"Oh, ok," I said, reading over the menu again. There were a few things in there that were more than a little scary- Filleted Magikarp, Bellsprout Salad. Things like that. I was worried that I'd be eating actual Pokemon, but apparently not. Good enough for me, then.

"What are you going to have? I think I'm going to have the Filleted Magikarp," I said. I'd always been pretty big on fish. Tilapia was good, but what was the best, whenever we actually got to have it back home, was when my dad would cook swordfish. It was usually really expensive, so it was rare, but when he did, it tasted the best.

"I think I'll have that, too," she said. "With a glass of this- what is it? Oh, yeah, I remember this one- Articuno Water," she said, laughing.

I couldn't help but laugh at it.

"Is that seriously what it says?" I asked. Brianna giggled, nodding.

"Yeah, yeah, just turn to page four-"

I flipped through the menu. Wow, was this corny. I put a hand over my mouth to try to prevent myself from laughing too hard. It was really just a glass of super cold water with flavoring or whatever, but of course they had to give it a name. I didn't get why they didn't just call it cold flavored water, but again, marketing. Or, at least, they think it's good marketing.

"That's so bad!" I said.

"I know, right? I couldn't help but love this place when I was four, though," Brianna said.

"Alright, are we ordering?" I asked.

"Yeah, yeah," Brianna said, still giggling a bit.

I walked up to the counter with our menus checked off, and gave him the menus and the pens.

"We're ordering," I told the kid.

"Thank you for your business," he said. He repeated it like a robot.

I turned away from the counter and walked back to the table we'd picked out.

"After this, I think I'm gonna need to feed Tina again," I said.

"When did you feed her last?" Brianna asked.

"Well, I fed her this morning, really, but that was before I had a few battles, one of which was my first loss. She's been resting in the ball since," I said, pointing towards my waist, "but still. I'm pretty sure she'll be hungry when I let her out."

"Just how did you lose that battle?" Brianna asked.

"He had a water type. I have to give Tina some credit, though. We still nearly won anyway. She's a trooper," I said.

"I knew it was going to be either a grass or water type that did you in," Brianna said.

"You're not experienced enough yet to get around a four times weakness," she said.

"Yeah, clearly not," I said. "Still, though. I'll get better in time. That's not even counting that she was evolving. She's a little weaker and more exhausted than she usually is. I'm figuring that after she evolves, the battling is going to get a lot easier," I said.

"Oh, definitely," Brianna said. "I remember seeing a Championship match live on TV, once, a few years back. A guy had a Tyranitar that absolutely dominated. It took out probably half of the other trainer's team," she said.

"Really, half? Holy crap. I hope I can manage to train Tina that well," I said.

"Well, not doubting your training ability, but a lot of that was just the raw power that a Tyranitar possesses," Brianna said. "Even in the Pokemon world, the things are complete monsters. They're some of the most durable, with the most offensive power. Their typing isn't too bad, easily something you can work with. Their only real downside is their speed, and even that can be trained out of them somewhat," Brianna said.

"That's good to know. I was always sort of worried that she'd be too easy to pick off because she'd be too slow," I said.

"No. That's not quite how it works. I've watched enough live matches to know that while raw power isn't always the answer, it certainly doesn't always lose to speed, either. In a situation where a Tyranitar is up against a Pokemon it can't catch- more often than not, small- all it takes is one hit for the Tyranitar to win the battle, basically. That's assuming it's something really vulnerable like a Pikachu or something, but no one ever has a Pikachu on their team."

"The point that I'm trying to make is that Tina will be amazing when she's fully grown- and I'm sure you already knew that from the Pokemon games, or whatever, but yeah. They're on a lot of strong teams. A lot of Champions have had a Tyranitar, especially Johto ones. They're just age-old good, basically. The only problem is their attitude," Brianna said.

I frowned.

Attitude?

"She's never really had a problem with obeying me," I said.

"That's not what I'm necessarily talking about, although that can be part of it," Brianna admitted.

"Once Larvitars morph into Pupitars, and then Tyranitars at the adult stage of their life cycle, they usually grow hateful and a little vindictive. Of course, personalities vary, but most Tyranitar are like this."

"I don't think Tina will be, though. You've seen how cheerful she can be," I said.

"Yeah, I know. I'm hoping she isn't like that. But, if I remember right from one of my textbooks that I read, they tend to have an 'insolent nature, and don't care about others because of it'," she said.

I shook my head, assured of Tina's loyalty.

"Tina would never do that. I have faith in her," I said.

Brianna shrugged.

Things were silent for a few moments more at the table before I decided to bring up a new subject.

"So, are you excited to go training tonight?" I asked Brianna.

"Oh! Yeah, that should be interesting. I've needed to get some practice," she said.

"Then you'll get it tonight. I'll be near you if you ever need me, but I'll be trying to catch an Abra in the meantime," I said.

Brianna only smiled and nodded her head.

"You can try to get one, but I'm almost sure you won't be able to get one tonight. They're really hard to catch for a reason, you know," she said.

"I wouldn't be surprised if you didn't even see one tonight."

"Yeah, I know. Still, I'm going to try," I said.

I heard a shout from the counter.

"The order of two Filleted Magikarp, and Two Articuno Waters?"

I stood up and put my hand in the air.

"That's us, thanks," I said.

I walked over to the counter and took our food, and put our plates on the table first and then walked back to get the two glasses of flavored water that they just had to name. I was still chuckling when I sat down at the table to eat.

The plates they gave us came with the silverware, and I wasted no time. I started digging into the meal, and was surprised by the quality of the taste.

"Wow… this tastes really good," I said, taking another bite.

"What, is that something you're not used to?" Brianna asked before she took a bite.

"It's not that food back home didn't taste good, it's… it's hard to explain. It's something I can't put my finger on," I said, taking a sip of the Articuno Water. It certainly was cold enough for that name, but it was just basically blue sugar water, with a slight fruit flavoring. It really wasn't anything special.

"It might just be another difference between my home and here," I said.

The dinner date went by quickly, with much laughter and small talk. It wasn't long before we were both finished and I went up and paid for the meal we'd had. It wasn't as expensive as I thought it was going to be after checking the amount of cash I had on me again, and because of that, I had plenty of money left. I could probably go a while without battling, which was good- I couldn't fight with Tina right now, anyway.

After dinner, we spent an hour or two just walking around the town, and chatting. It was nice to do something normal for once, something that didn't involve Pokemon. I mean, Pokemon were cool and everything and it was, in a way, a dream come true to be sent here, it being in my face all the time really put down how cool it actually was.

Absence makes the heart grow fonder, and all that.

It was around seven or eight when we stopped back at Brianna's house. I waited outside while she told her parents where we were going. We'd probably only be out in the wilderness for one to two days, and then we'd be back- it was an even shorter trip than the first time she'd went with me. She collected some supplies for herself and she came back out the door five or ten minutes later, with her bag slung over her shoulders.

"Ready?" I asked her.

"Yeah," she said, nodding, and then we started heading towards the Pokemon Center. Even though we had to slow down because of my shoulder, we made good time, and when we reached the Pokemon Center, the Nurse Joy had changed shifts again. I nodded to her as I walked up the stairs and went to my room on the second floor.

"I just want to get a few things, alright?" I asked Brianna as I walked in the room.

"No, it's fine," she said. "Take as long as you need to."

I nodded to her and took a few seconds looking through my bag. I wanted to make sure I had everything I needed, and I did- still some spare clothes, rations here and there, too. I had my gauze on me, also, which I would use to change my bandages before we left the Pokemon Center. I looked for a few more minutes before I was satisfied and set my bag outside.

"We'll go in a minute, but I have to take care of my shoulder," I said, pulling my shirt off for a second and tossing it on the bed.

The bandages felt a little sticky. It was probably because I'd sweat modestly throughout the day, including the walk to come over here from Brianna's house. They were fighting my hands the whole way, and they didn't want to come off of my skin, but I made them.

The wound was a red, sticky mess. It had spread the bit of blood that had leaked out all over, and while the soreness was getting better and the wound was mostly closed, it was still nowhere done healing yet. I spent a few minutes with water on my hand gingerly cleaning the fluids on my shoulder, and very carefully wiping at the wound.

I threw the bandages in the garbage, and wrapped new ones around the wound, wincing the entire time. It was still pretty sore even if it was getting better, and the pain was only intensified when I was touching the wound itself. After a little while, I was finally finished, and I walked out of the bathroom and put my shirt back on.

I threw my backpack over my good shoulder, and walked out of the room back into the hallway, where Brianna was still waiting for me.

"Alright, let's go," I said, and we walked together, out of the Pokemon Center, down the road, and all the way out of town. It was already getting pretty dark, and it was hard to see outside. When we were a good twenty or thirty minutes out of town, I motioned to her bag.

She reached inside and retrieved her Pokeball, and chucked it at the ground, catching the ball on its bounce upwards.

The red beam lit up the area around us for a moment while Ciri formed from it. The second she looked at us, she walked up and nuzzled Brianna, and gave both of us an unimpressed yawn, me especially. I was starting to think she just didn't like me because I owned Tina and Tina had thrown that mud-ball thing from her mouth at her.

"We're going to train, Ciri," Brianna said, stepping forwards towards one thick copse.

Ciri didn't look too pleased with it, and laid down on the grass, giving another adorable yawn. Wow, not only was she disrespectful, she was lazy, too.

Brianna sighed.

"I'm not asking, Ciri, I'm telling you! We're training! Come on."

Once again, Ciri refused. I could tell she was too pampered. Brianna probably spoiled her too much- I could tell, from her coat alone. I imagined that most Ninetails were hard to train anyway, because they probably had attitudes similar to this, but Brianna was enabling it.

So, I gave her what she needed. I reached over and smacked her upside the head.

There, some Pokemon abuse.

And oh boy, was she pissed off at me. She turned and growled at me.

"Listen to Brianna, you spoiled brat. You're lucky that she takes care of you the way she does, especially with your horrible attitude," I said.

"Daniel, don't hit Ciri!" Brianna said.

"Sorry, but she needed it. She's not going to be useful for battling unless you train this out of her. She's way too spoiled. You give her too much," I said.

Brianna didn't say anything, because she knew I was right. Ciri was still glaring and growling at me when Brianna sighed and nodded.

"He's right. You're spoiled, Ciri," Brianna said. Ciri stopped growling at me and turned to Brianna with the best puppy dog eyes she could muster. Little manipulator, that's what she was. It didn't work, though. Brianna shook her head.

"Not going to work, Ciri," Brianna said, and then Ciri pouted. She followed Brianna this time, though, when Brianna walked forward and started going towards the copse. I followed Ciri, and a few minutes later, Ciri was battling wild Spinarak that were inside the forest.

"Ciri, use Ember!" Brianna shouted, and she opened her jaws and let loose a scarlet jet of flames that raced towards the insect Pokemon. It was too slow, and I heard an ear-splitting screech of pain as it lashed against the spider's body. It fell off of its web and, once on the floor, scuttled away before more harm could come to it. It didn't look seriously damaged. It seemed that the fire had scared it more than anything else.

We found a few more Spinarak, a Pidgey, and two Rattata. Ciri defeated and battled all of them with ease. She had potential, but she was too lazy to learn how to use it.

It was a little dangerous using fire attacks in a forest, but Ciri had complete control over it, so it was fine, really. That wasn't even mentioning that if anything actually did happen- say, she shot an attack and the Pokemon moved, and a tree caught on fire instead- I have Tina. She doesn't need to battle. I can just have her use dirt to snuff out the fire. I'm pretty sure she knew Mud Slap, and if not that, then Rock Slide would simply crush and kill the fire before it could spread, and that would work well enough.

Once I was sure that Brianna would be fine with Ciri, I decided I'd start looking for the Abra.

"Just yell if you need anything, alright?" I asked her as I walked away.

"Yeah, don't worry. I'll be fine. I think I'm going to find a river for Ciri to shoot giant flames over. I'm going to work on her endurance and making her attacks stronger," she said. I nodded to her and she disappeared between a few trees, her Ninetails soon following her.

I spent a good ten minutes looking around before I started to get frustrated.

I couldn't find an Abra. This was what I'd expected, though. I knew that I probably wouldn't get it tonight- hell; I might not even get it this week. I don't know why I raised my expectations so much. Maybe it was because I'd gotten lucky and seen one before- but of course now, when I actually had Pokeballs on me, I couldn't find any.

I was just glad that no Pokemon was attacking me. I knew that I could just release Tina if I really needed to, and with how strong she'd gotten, I was really in no real danger, but I still didn't want some bite mark on my arm, especially with how banged up my shoulder already is.

More darkness, and more silence.

Fucking godammit.

I searched for half an hour more when I finally heard a soft crack in the air, just like the gunshot before. Behind me, not far away.

Immediately, I started moving, though I stayed quiet and tried to make my mind focus on something else. Anything. I was trying to give it as little to detect as possible.

I still didn't hear any other sounds as I moved closer. Silence, silence, more silence.

When I stepped into the clearing, Pokeball already drawn, it was levitating in the middle of it, making no noise at all.

When I had more time to look at it, the appearance of it was actually a lot different than what I'd seen the first time. It had disappeared so fast I hadn't had the chance to look.

It did look sort of like a baby, but there was no way it was human. Only vaguely similar in shape, and that was it. The yellow coloring of the skin saw to that, not to mention the brown armor sort of thing that was on it. It was closer to a fox than anything else, and it had a tail that was almost too long for its body. Its ears were fox-like as well.

It floated in the air, unaware.

This was the best chance that I was probably going to get.

So far, it couldn't tell I was there, because it wasn't reacting. Abra were very weak at detections, it seemed. I knew how powerful Kadabra and Alakazam were. This had to be the most vulnerable stage of their life cycle, by far, even if they never fought anyone, just because if for some reason they had to, they couldn't fight.

I raised my arm and threw the ball.

It was like time stopped as it flew through the air- closer, and closer it got to the Abra.

I saw it twitch, and I knew that it was about to teleport, but it was too late. The ball met its mark and hit the Abra right on the head, and drew it inside, falling onto the grass. I walked closer and stood over the ball, watching it shake back and forth, repeatedly.

Shake to the left, then to the right. Then to the left again.

It fought in that ball for a while, and several times, I thought it was going to get out, but in the end, it didn't. I smiled, and picked up the ball.

That had been easier than I thought it would be. Maybe it was just because people didn't persevere enough. Or, maybe I'd just gotten lucky.

Either way, I wasn't going to complain, and I pocketed my Pokeball before I started walking back to where Brianna had been last. I had to show her it, and also rub it in her face. It was a required thing.

It took me a little while, because I'd wandered pretty far, but eventually I got myself back to that same copse that she'd disappeared in. I knew that there was a river around here, and she'd probably still be there, training Ciri.

It took me a few more minutes to finally find her. I was still getting used to the area around here, and I probably made the same wrong turn like three times because all of the trees looked the same. Still, I eventually found her and Ciri shooting flames over a small river, maybe six or eight feet wide. That way, even if sparks and small flames fell from the attack, nothing would catch fire.

"Hey!" I called to her.

Brianna turned around.

"Guess who just caught an Abra?" I bragged.

"No way! Really?"

"Yep," I said, holding the Pokeball up in my hands. I rose in the air like it was a treasure.

"Wow. You've must've gotten lucky," Brianna said.

"Yeah, I actually did. I had been wandering around for a while out there before I finally heard the noise," I said.

"Wait, what noise?" she asked.

"The noise of it teleporting," I said.

"There's a noise? No wonder most people don't catch them. I didn't even know that," Brianna said.

"That doesn't make sense," I said. "You know a lot about Pokemon, facts about them, stuff like that. Why wouldn't you know that?"

"Well, most psychic types I've seen are really well trained… they don't make any kind of noise or visual disturbance with their teleport, they just disappear. I guess, now that I think about it, it makes sense that an untrained one wouldn't know to do that, but… it's just surprising," Brianna said, "it's one of those things that makes sense, but you never think about."

"Well, if not many people know there's a noise, maybe that's why they're rare," I said.

"Maybe," Brianna agreed. Ciri sat right behind her in front of the river, resting. She panted. I'm guessing Brianna had been hard on her, making her fire attack after attack.

"Abra live near human areas though- cities, towns, even abandoned structures. The reason that no one ever catches one is all because of the teleporting, basically," she said.

"Well, either way," I said, "I caught one. It was really a lot easier than I was expecting, although, to be fair, I just looked in the same area that I saw one earlier at. This might be the same one. I'm not really sure."

"Now," I said. "The only problem is how to train it and get it out of the ball without losing it."

"You have time for that," Brianna said. "There's no rush," she said.

I yawned

"Do you want to be done training soon? I think I'm gonna hit the hay in a minute here," I said.

She smiled at me.

"Sure."

We spent a few minutes looking for a good place to make a rudimentary camp- it was pretty amateur of us to not do it earlier in the day, but we'd just got caught up in what we were doing, I guess. It was a little difficult to make it at nighttime, but we managed.

It was only a few minutes after that when we decided we would both go to sleep.

We were lying in our sleeping bags, staring at the stars.

"It's so pretty," Brianna said.

I nodded, even though she couldn't see me.

"Yeah. It is."

"It's not like this where I'm from. Not at all," I said.

"Why?" She asked.

"Pollution, mostly. If you live anywhere near a very large city it can ruin the sight of the stars at nighttime. This place obviously has an environment that's taken care of a lot more. I have to imagine that a lot of that is because of Pokemon," I said.

"Probably," Brianna said.

"Hey, listen. I'm not going to stick around here forever," I said.

She shifted in her sleeping bag- and when she spoke again, I could catch just a trace of fear- and sadness, was that sadness? - In her voice.

"Why?"

"I need to train, I want to see the world, and I have to find Terry and Matt. That's not even mentioning the massive task that tracking down Palkia will be," I said.

"So, you're asking me if I want to come," she said.

I sighed.

"Yeah, basically," I said.

"It's not really fair to you," I said. "I can't just ask you to leave everything behind like this- and on such short notice, too! Once Jack's gets better, we'll be leaving. I'll understand if you don't want to go," I said.

"I'm going," Brianna said.

I stopped.

"Really?" I asked.

It wasn't that I disagreed with her decision- no, that wasn't it at all. I wanted her to come. That wasn't the thing.

It almost sounded like her decision was impulsive- like she wasn't thinking everything through.

"Are you sure?" I asked her.

"I'm sure," she said.

"Alright. I just want to make sure you're not… making a bad decision."

"I know that I'm not," she said.

I didn't say anything back. I turned over and tried to fall asleep. Tina's ball, and the unnamed Abra were inside my pockets.

After thinking about what I had gotten into recently, I hoped that she was right.

XxXxXx

**That's the chapter. I'm pretty happy with it overall.**

** Before I go, I want to address something: specifically, the small, minor disappointment I received over 'how good Daniel was with a gun.' It may seem unrealistic, but I'm going to point out a few things, as well as use quotes from my writing itself.**

** Daniel dives behind the counter after picking up the gun from the Rockets upstairs.**

** There are a few things I want to point out here-**

** One, he isn't being hit because he's behind extremely dense cover- the counter of the Pokemon Center is built that way because creatures that can blow up buildings are occasionally housed within. The entire building is extremely strong and stable.**

** Two, he isn't 'good with a gun.' He misses more than once- and I quote-** I fired fast, and without much accuracy.**- and, also this-** but the one I'd missed still came after me.**- both of these point to how he is not as good with a gun as you think.**

** There is plenty of gang crime in America, and many, many unfortunate young people and or teenagers die every day to gun shots inflicted in fights between gangs, over drugs, drama, or otherwise. If thugs and gangbangers, untrained trash, can use guns and still kill, and hit at a distance, then someone like Daniel can definitely use it at a closer range. **

** It isn't hard, just point and shoot.**

** The Pokemon Center lobby is not as big as you're thinking. If anything, imagine a very small food court at a mall. That's around the size. I can't give exact measurements, but with what I've said, you get the point.**

** That's not even mentioning that he didn't even take out all of the Rockets by himself- near the end, when he runs towards Pidgeotto, the trapped people in the lobby take the guns off the floor and continue fighting, ending the conflict. Just as well, Tina also takes out a few- **she had taken down several Rockets with guns, - **and that only proves my point more.**

** I think I've gotten the point across by now.**

** And if anyone else wants to say something about how lucky he was that they missed, there's two things that explain that- one, luck, and two, the incompetence of a Rocket Grunt.**

** That's it, see ya.**


	7. Chapter 6

Brianna woke me up.

"Hey, get up."

I groaned and rolled over, breathing for a few seconds before lifting my head up. The sunlight was harsh and too bright, and I hissed and covered my eyes for a second before letting the eyes slowly get used to the light.

"How early is it?" I whispered.

"It's around nine, nine thirty, maybe. I figured that we couldn't just sit here and sleep all day, we need to train! Come on! Up and at 'em."

It took me a few more seconds, but I unzipped my sleeping bag and climbed out of it, pawing through my pockets for my Pokeballs. I had two now, and they were almost identical except for the scratches on Tina's old ball that made it distinguishable.

I turned to Brianna.

She was already holding her Pokeball in her hand.

I stretched, hands going high in the air.

"Train?" I asked her.

She grinned.

XxXxXxXx

I figured that I had better start taking the training thing more seriously- or, at the very least, give it more effort than I currently was.

This was the start of giving it more effort.

I had released Tina, and left the Abra in its ball for now. I probably wouldn't even be able to release it for a while until I figured out how to control it and make it not leave. Until then, it was staying in the ball. I didn't want it getting out, especially after how lucky I'd been, catching one that fast and that easily. I wasn't catching an Abra twice.

"Tina, come on! You can do it," I assured her. "Last a little while longer."

If anything, this reminded me of the training that Ash had done with Pikachu right after he'd first lost to Brock. I had Tina sitting in the same moving river that Brianna was having Ciri shoot flames over. With her dual weakness to water, though, soon it had already weakened her, and she was getting tired.

All she had to do was sit in it.

I remembered how easily she'd lost to water attacks.

That wasn't enough. She had to get stronger. I knew she wanted it- she just didn't know that she did. I figured stuff like this would be fine as long as I didn't get her into actual battles.

I could raise her endurance, her strength, her resistance to water attacks. Things like that. Maybe help her with her speed a bit too. Some actual training might do me some good, and I was a little anxious to see where it would get me.

"L-Larvitar," Tina groaned. I could see her wincing in the water.

She had to last.

"This isn't all, Tina. Try to use Rock Slide a few times," I said.

I knew that was the move she had the most trouble using, and because of that, I was going to make her use it. She had to be able to use her attacks wherever and whenever. The only time I wanted her to not be able to attack was when she was unconscious.

"L-Larv!" She shouted, and raised her stubby paws towards the sky. It took a few moments, certainly longer than usual, but eventually, large chunks of rock tore themselves out of the ground. They rose in the air, spinning. I was a safe distance away, and so were Ciri and Brianna. Even if she lost control and dropped them, no one would get hurt.

The chunks weren't as big as they usually were which was no surprise. I couldn't expect her to improve that much that quickly. That would be ridiculous. I was happy enough with her being able to do it while standing almost chest deep in the river like she was.

The chunks wobbled in the air, and for a moment, I thought she was going to lose control. She did not. The chunks rose higher, and higher still, and then one unfortunate tree was struck down by ten or twelve miniature boulders that pelted it without mercy.

After that, Tina only stood in the river and breathed. I could tell just using that one move while in the river had completely exhausted her. She didn't move, she didn't make any noise, she didn't even complain. She sat in the river, breathed, and did nothing else.

I didn't bother speaking for several minutes, and let her rest. Brianna hadn't noticed because she was training Ciri.

I then noticed Tina falling over in the river, and recalled her with my Pokeball. No wonder she hadn't been making any noise- she had passed out because of exhaustion, and she would probably not want to train for at least the rest of today, which I didn't blame her for.

No, what I did instead was help her out.

I set her ball down near the riverbank and walked a good distance away from the river. I made sure to keep it away from my camp, too.

I started digging a hole with my hands in the dirt.

After a few seconds, Brianna stopped training Ciri and walked over to me.

"What are you doing?"

"Digging a hole for Tina. She's tired. I think eating will help her out- it always does," I said. I didn't bother saying anything else, because I was too preoccupied with digging. I tore grass out and then did it handful by handful of dirt. It took me a few minutes, but I dug a small hole to place Tina inside of. My nails were black and my hands and arms were dirty, but I didn't care. If it would help Tina- and I was pretty sure it was going to- then being dirty was a small price to pay in comparison.

I fumbled for her Pokeball and released her inside of the little dirt pit that I'd dug her. Satisfied, I pocketed my Pokeball and walked back over to the river, placing my hands inside it and washing it clean over the course of another few minutes. My nails were the hardest part. The dirt everywhere else just washed away after a few seconds.

Not my nails, though. I had to scrub and really get under them to get clean.

"Ciri, use Flamethrower!"

I turned to the side and watched Brianna trained Ciri while I cleaned myself. There wasn't much else to do, so I might as well watch her train. Her training was a lot less intense than what I'd made Tina do, but I figured that what I was doing was just as important. I knew that her resistance to Water type attacks would be important in the future, and I might as well start sooner than later when it came to that.

One other reason that Tina had collapsed so early, though, was that she was evolving. That was the only thing I could think of when it came to that- it was the only thing that made any sense. It was probably sapping a lot of her energy to even do it.

I noticed that she was even grayer than she had been before, and that she was, even if marginally, a little longer and taller. Her arms and legs were even stubbier and shorter than normal, and I was almost sure that she was beginning the full transformation into a Pupitar, because she was starting to retract her arms and legs. She was starting to form into the shape.

"Ciri, use Flamethrower! Again!"

Ciri opened her mouth, and shot a graceful flare of fire. It was a long, scarlet orange plume that extended for a good twenty or thirty feet at least, maybe more. The river was practically steaming because of how hot Ciri was making it. I knew that by touching her before that even her inner body temperature was much hotter than normal, but even from over here, I could almost feel the heat of the flames.

Brianna stood right next to her, sweating the whole time while she gave Ciri commands.

Ciri's white tails flicked and moved around while she listened. She panted, but she didn't stop. I knew that she could be good if Brianna would just put her foot down- and if I had to intervene to make that happen, then so be it. At the very least she was listening to Brianna nd not being as spoiled anymore, so that was a huge improvement from before.

A few more minutes of me watching Brianna and Ciri passed, and then I heard a moaning from the pit I'd dug with my hands. I turned around and walked back to the hole, and there she was- turning inside of it, groaning. Eventually she opened her eyes and stared up at me, with her mouth open and her chest moving up and down slowly. She was still fatigued.

Once she could move, she started eating dirt, and it didn't look like she was going to stop for a long, long while. She ate more than I'd ever seen her eat before- and faster. Much, much faster, too. A lot more desperate than I'd ever seen her before when it came to eating.

I left her alone to what she was doing and just paid attention to Ciri and Brianna for a little while.

I had only been gone maybe ten or fifteen minutes when it happened.

I heard a loud grunt from the hole she'd dug, and then complete silence.

When I walked back over from the river, Tina was hardly even there anymore. Instead, what was in her place was a silver-gray husk that looked like it was expanding. It had no arms and legs, and for the moment, it wasn't moving, eating, or making any noise. It looked like it was growing, instead.

I recalled her into my Pokeball. I wouldn't bother her for a few days, now. She needed to rest and she needed, above all, to have some time alone to evolve. I wasn't going to have her train, battle, or try to do anything else when she was in a state like that. It wasn't fair to Tina- not to mention that she wouldn't even be able to do anything, anyway.

I stared at the Pokeball for a moment before I miniaturized it and shoved it in my pocket next to the Abra's. I still hadn't named it yet- and until I could at least get him out of his Pokeball without him teleporting away, I didn't think that I would. I wanted to get a feel for his personality first, at the very least.

I walked back over to Brianna and Ciri, who were still training.

"She's evolving," I said.

"What? Really?" Brianna asked.

"Yep. I saw her start to change right before my eyes, so I just recalled her into the ball. I'll let her have plenty of time to do it inside of the ball," I said.

"Wow, nice. I'm a little jealous. You're going to have a pseudolegendary, eventually," she said.

"That doesn't stop you from catching more Pokemon and becoming a better trainer, too," I said. "I mean, I'm not hardcore about this thing, but I think that I want to be at least good, or decent. I probably won't be the best, but if I can even form my own team like I want to, that alone would probably make me happy," I said.

"I'm not sure about what to catch, though," Brianna said, frowning.

"Just catch whatever. You can work on their strengths and weaknesses once you have the Pokemon. I know for damn sure that Jack's Mareep is going to be really strong once he gets out of the hospital and starts to train it. I think it's all about dedication," I said.

She nodded.

"Yeah, it is… I'm just a little nervous about the whole thing," she said.

"What, training? Why?" I asked.

She sighed.

"Because I've done it before," she whispered.

I frowned in confusion.

"What are you talking about?"

"When I was…" she gulped, and it looked like she was trying to force the words out.

"You don't have to talk about it if you don't want to," I blurted out.

She shook her head.

"No, no. This… this has to be said," she said.

"When I was around fourteen, I set out for the first time trying to become a strong Trainer. Back then, I had a Vulpix. His name was Miri, and I loved him," she said.

"Once I felt that I was strong enough, I left the town, and headed north, to train. I spent a good few weeks getting to the first city. It was just me and Miri, in the wild together, but I never minded it. It was nice."

"And, back then, I knew this kid. His name was Jason- I'd met him at the first city that I'd come across. Jason," she said, spitting the name, "might as well have been my first friend. He was certainly the first person that I'd ever really trained with that was my age. He had a Totodile as a starting Pokemon, and he always beat me whenever we battled, but I didn't mind. We had a good time together, and we were good friends- just friends," she added, glancing to me.

"The Rockets often recruit as young as they can," she said.

"Jason was a Rocket," she said.

I didn't say anything, but I stared at her. I continued listening.

"The Totodile? It wasn't even his- he'd stolen it from some kid who was just starting out. I don't know why he didn't do it sooner, but one day, he challenged me to a battle. I accepted, because I thought it was just some friendly competition- we did it every day, nearly."

"The battle went as it usually did, and I was losing. I tried to burn his Totodile and then attack with physical move so I wouldn't play to Totodile's strength of resisting the Fire type, but I still lost. That part was fine- I was used to it," Brianna said.

"Only… when Miri fell to the ground, and started coughing, Totodile didn't stop," she said.

"When Miri stopped moving, it still didn't stop. It kept hitting it with Water Gun. By then, I was already crying, asking what was wrong with Jason, why was he doing this, there was no point… he didn't even talk back to me. Like I wasn't worth responding to," she said.

Brianna now had tears running down her cheeks.

"I had caught other Pokemon by then, a few at least. He took all of them. I didn't even try to fight back. My money, he took that too," she said.

"He just- he just- just recalled Totodile and walked away, with a smile. I tried to get Miri to a Pokemon Center, but the closest one was far away because we were still in the wild. By the time I'd gotten there, Miri had stopped breathing. The Totodile had hit him with water until he'd killed him," Brianna said.

"After that, I made it to the Pokemon Center, and after- after they told me Miri was gone," Brianna said, sobbing by this point, "I called my parents. They sent me money and I took a plane from the city back down to Girk Town. I went back to school, didn't say anything. I've never thought about leaving since," she said.

I didn't say anything at first. I stayed silent and rubbed her back while she cried.

Ciri had come over about halfway through and rubbed her head on Brianna's legs- and Brianna stroked her head while she cried.

"Are you sure you want to go with me?" I asked.

"You don't have to come with me if you don't want to," I said.

She sniffled a bit, and then answered.

"Of course I want to go," she said. "The question is whether I'll be able to bring myself to leave or not," she said.

"Well, you know that Jack and I aren't with the Rockets," I joked, but it didn't do any good. It hardly lifted her spirits up at all.

"Yeah I know that, but- I just worry," she said.

"I don't even understand how you had the courage to come with me and Jack the first time that you did," I said.

It didn't make much sense to me. I know that I'd be scared a long time afterwards if something like that happened- especially from someone that I trusted.

"It was a long time ago," she said. She'd stopped crying, but she still didn't seem like she wanted to move yet. I didn't ask anything of her. We would stay like this as long as she needed.

"I… It's more about the fact that time had passed than anything else, but I had sort of liked you a little bit, even from the start, and there was an inherent trust there, with you and Jack. I just knew that you wouldn't do anything," she said.

"What if you were wrong?" I asked.

"What if I we had been rapists or something else- you already said that you had told your parents, but still. What if?"

She grinned up at me beneath her curtain of red, frizzy hair. Her eyes were still wet, and her cheeks stained with tears.

"Life is all about taking risks. Some of the best things only happen because you take them," she said, and then she pushed me onto my back, jumped me, and started kissing me.

Ciri, who I could see out of the corner of my vision, rolled her eyes at the both of us and made some sort of noise before wandering off to some other area. I didn't really know where she was going, and at that particular moment in time, I wasn't exactly paying that much attention to Ciri, either.

At first, I thought she was going to stop, but it didn't seem like she was going to, and I tried to push her off, repeatedly. I didn't want her doing what she didn't want to, even if I definitely wanted to.

"Brianna, you shouldn't-"I tried to say, but she pushed herself onto me even further and kissed me deeper. Things were getting more… frisky, than usual, but when she started to undo my pants, though? That's when I knew that it had to stop.

It wasn't that I didn't want it.

"Brianna, you don't want this," I said.

She started to pull my zipper down.

It was that I knew she was going to regret it later. I wasn't going to have sex with her just because she was feeling bad.

"Brianna, you need to stop," I said, managing to free my mouth from hers. Her hands stopped unzipping my pants and rested on the side, having gotten the zipper halfway down.

She rolled over and lay down on the grass next to me. Neither of us said anything for several moments, but it ended up being her that spoke first.

"I'm sorry," she said. Her voice was laced with sorrow. I could tell that she was still depressed, even if she wasn't as bad as she'd been before.

"It's not your fault. Although I am surprised about what you just… did, there," I said.

"I'm not going to make you do anything you don't want to do," I told her. "Especially considering how you just were. I really don't think you were thinking, about, well… anything," I said. I heard a soft giggling from next to me.

"I'm pretty sure I was thinking about something… even if it was just one thing," she said.

I couldn't help but to blush.

I grabbed her hand, which was next to me, and squeezed it.

"In all seriousness, though, I'm not going to take advantage of you like that. I don't even know why you wanted to, but… I don't think you really want it," I said.

She sighed, and wiped at her eyes with her sleeves.

"Yeah, I know… I just wanted to do something, think about something else, and you were right there and well…" she said, trailing off.

"You don't have to say anymore," I said.

I still didn't understand, though. I had never got that- I'd heard about it before, but I'd never thought it would happen to me. I'd read some things on the Internet before, about women trying to have sex when they were sad or depressed. I never expected to experience it, though. Especially from her. From what I heard, it was to… validate yourself, through sex. And that was the saddest part. I sighed, and turned to Brianna.

"Brianna," I said, and she turned to me, still wiping her eyes dry. She offered me a small smile, but I could tell how nervous and easily breakable it actually was. After a few seconds of hard staring, it disappeared, and she met my stare with lips set firmly in a line.

"You don't have to prove anything to anyone," I told her.

"I thought it would make me feel better," she said.

"Why?" I asked her.

Without missing a beat, she turned her emerald green eyes towards me, and opened her mouth. At first, she struggled with it- I saw the fear, the worry in her eyes.

Then she just said it.

"Because I love you," she said.

Then she whispered something else that I didn't hear. I didn't ask what it was.

It was strange to hear that from her.

We'd barely known each other for a week- not even, hardly.

And then she went and said something like that.

I wondered if she actually meant it, but then I looked at her.

In the morning sun, she was truly beautiful.

Her frizzy red hair ran down far, her emerald eyes seem to shimmer, and there were still tears inside of them. Her eyes, pointed at me.

Even the way she sat, although she'd rolled off of me, it was a lot closer than was necessary. She was still touching me with her arms.

She meant it.

"I love you," she repeated.

I wanted to lie, at that moment.

I wanted to say I loved her back, but I wasn't sure that I did yet. I was glad that she did, but I wasn't going to lie to her. That would probably be the worst thing that I could do, at this point. So, instead, I told her the truth.

"I know," I said.

And she smiled.

XxXxXxXx

After the surprisingly emotional morning, Brianna went back to training Ciri, and I decided that, out of anything, the best thing that I could do was try to cook lunch. I couldn't release Abra and Tina was transforming. So, I tried to prepare food as best as I could.

We had rations, but they weren't exactly the best things to eat, far from it. They were dry, old, and they tasted terrible. It was just one of those things that you bought en masse to have something to eat in case of the chance that you found no food, or ran out of the good stuff. Because we were only going to be out for a couple of days, though, we'd managed to bring some decent stuff with us.

One of things we'd bought was suspiciously like ramen from my world. It was cooked in basically the same way- boil water in a pot, then boil the noodles, and then add flavoring and just stir it for a little while. So, a little while before lunch, Brianna had Ciri light a bunch of firewood we'd gathered on fire, and I filled the pot with water from the river.

I tended to it and boiled the noodles after the water in the pot was at a rolling boil. Then I took the little flavor packet and dumped it in there, and stirred it with a little plastic spoon that I'd bought, too. I had everything we needed out here, and I was glad that I'd packed well, as I found myself using more and more of the stuff as time went on.

I made a larger serving because both Brianna and I would be eating from it. It was going to stay nice and hot for a while, so I left it to simmer on the fire while I went and got Brianna so we could eat.

Ciri looked more tired than usual. It looked like Brianna had made her really give it her all. When Brianna saw me, she smiled.

"Lunch is ready," I said.

"Great," she said, and she sat down to eat it with me.

We only had three bowls, and we had to wash them after every meal. We hadn't really had a good dinner, though, and I knew that she must've been hungry, because I knew that I was. I took a spoon and filled both bowls with a generous amount of broth, as well as the noodles, and the other random pieces of meat and vegetables in the soup.

I passed her a bowl and a spoon, and we started to eat. It was a quiet, nice, early lunch. There was no talking, besides one or two compliments from her on how good the soup tasted and how well I'd cooked it. I knew Brianna had some Pokemon food on her, and she set the bag on the floor and let Ciri eat from it.

Ciri wrinkled her nose before letting out a noise that sounded suspiciously like a sigh, and I couldn't help but laugh at her. I knew that she was probably used to treats, and not used to eating this kind of food- probably better for her than treats, but certainly a little blander tasting. She didn't complain any more than that, though, and I saw her shove her muzzle in the bag, so she obviously didn't have an actual problem. She was just being spoiled.

I finished my soup much faster than Brianna, shoveling it down my throat. I exhaled, and then got up, and kicked dirt over the fire that was still smoldering. I wouldn't even need it again until night. I'd just take the dirt out and put more logs in there, then. I took my bowl and spoon and left it on the side, and waited for Brianna to finish, leaning back on my hands.

"That was good," I said, and Brianna nodded, slurping up some of the noodles.

"I was surprised," she said.

I frowned.

"Why?"

"Because I didn't think you had much of a cooking ability at all," she said, sticking her tongue out at me. I only grinned and laughed at that.

"Well, you were obviously wrong," I said, standing and stretching.

"Yeah, yeah," she said, waving her free hand.

My mind remembered the morning- how she'd reacted, what she'd said.

I sighed.

"Brianna, are you alright?" I asked.

She looked confused at the question, but answered it nonetheless.

"I'm fine. What are you talking about?" she said.

"This morning," I said, refusing to dance around the topic.

Suddenly, to Brianna, the soup bowl was very interesting. I could catch the slightest hint of red heating her cheeks. She drank the last of the soup, and her spoon clinked in the bowl as she let it hit the bottom. She got up and set it to the side where my bowl was.

Then she coughed.

"Brianna, we need to talk about this," I said.

"It isn't right to try to use sex to try to make you feel better-"

"Why not!?" She yelled.

I reared back a little, surprised by her ferocity. It wasn't like her usual personality at all.

I continued anyway.

"Because, that isn't what it's for. Not like that. Not to mention, like I said this morning, you would regret it- would've regretted it. That, above all else, is what I don't want the most."

"I- I don't even have protection!" I said.

"So, you're saying you don't want me?" she asked.

I had to tread lightly, now. She tried to look like she was standing strong, but really, she wasn't. I'd never made her for such an emotional girl- obviously, I was wrong.

There was something else that was bothering her. It couldn't just all be me.

I shook my head.

"That's not it. That's not it at all. It's… it should be more than that," I said.

This was hard, to explain it to her. I didn't understand why she was being like this.

She nodded.

"I get what you're saying… it's hard to deal with it," she said.

I had a feeling she wasn't talking about what I thought she was, right there.

"Deal with what?" I asked. Maybe I was too quiet, or she had chosen to ignore my question- either way, she didn't respond.

I heard a sob, then two more.

As she turned, I saw a few tears flying through the air, glistening.

"I'm going to go train Ciri," she said, and practically dragged Ciri along with her, who was still eating her Pokemon food. She gave a loud squeal of indignation, but she didn't stop Brianna, who was still making her come along.

"No- Brianna, wait- ah, damn it," I said, slapping the side of my leg.

I sat down in the grass and sighed.

I should probably just give her some time by herself.

But damn it was I bored. I couldn't train or spend any time with Tina because she was evolving, and I couldn't let Abra out of the ball yet because I was scared that it would just teleport away- rightfully so. I would barely have any time to react. It would almost certainly get away. And I didn't want to lose my precious catch, so I didn't open the ball.

I could go out and try to capture another Pokemon, but I didn't want any weak Pokemon on my team- if I was going to make a team at all, I was going to make a good, strong one. I resented the fact that Pidgeotto had died, but like I'd also mentioned before, I didn't really feel that much for him besides the initial shock and rage because I had only had him for such a short time. And I didn't know the Pokemon in this area anyway, and I didn't want really want any of them. I decided I would just have to find something to do.

In my boredom, I started wandering away from camp.

I kept my Pokeballs on me, but left everything else behind. The forestry was not that thick, and it was noon, so it wasn't like it was dark or anything. I knew the area fairly well, but I had yet to take in the small details. The first trip out here had been to get to Girk- and then, catching Pokemon, and now, this trip, catching Pokemon and training them.

I was rushing past, and ignoring, beauty.

I decided to take it slow and just explore. It was much better than doing nothing.

I eventually came to a small copse that I entered, and after walking inside it for a time, I came to a tiny clearing that housed a few trees that were occupied. On the base I saw piles of dead grass and trees- and, following the source upwards, I saw a family of Taillow resting in the tree, inside a nest they'd made. There was one larger male Taillow- at least, I assumed it was male- and what I was sure was female, because of the color difference- and, last, a few eggs that they guarded. They watched the entire clearing with wary eyes.

When I stepped into it, the male let out an indignant squawk and flew at me, beak out, ready to peck. I was ready to defend myself, but he didn't try to hurt me, yet. He continued to squawk and make noise, trying to drive me off. He flapped his wings and waited in the air in front of me. I took a few experimental steps backwards and watched to see what he would do.

He relaxed slightly, though it was still clear that he would rather not have me here at all.

"I'm not going to hurt you, or your children," I said. He chirped instead of squawking.

"Taillow."

It was a softer, gentler cry that came from his beak. He seemed much calmer once he deemed that I wasn't actually going to try to do anything.

It relaxed more and more as time went by and I continued to do nothing to it. Eventually, it stopped 'guarding' the clearing and flew back up to its nest with its mate, though as it had before, it still kept a watchful eye on me.

I took a few steps towards the tree, and it didn't react. Figuring it wasn't going to freak out, I started walking around the clearing.

The other trees were empty- they didn't have birds nesting inside of them. The entire place seemed more peaceful than the rest of the forest, though- it was beyond strange. I only started having the feeling once I really got into the clearing.

After a few minutes walking around inside it, I realized that it was much, much bigger than it had appeared originally.

I wasn't sure how that exactly was possible until I saw that, from the opening of the clearing where I'd been standing before; the trees blocked the actual size of the entire thing. They got in the way and made it seem much smaller than it actually was.

I decided to go to the center of the clearing. It took me a few moments but I moved through a few trees and pushed past branches, and staggered into the middle. What I saw both shocked me and left me wondering.

There was old stone shrine directly in the middle of the forest. It looked aged, worn, and cracked, and it looked like no one had taken care of it in a very long time. I couldn't even make out the shape of it anymore- it had, at one point, had small and tiny details carved in, but it looked like a weathered lump of rock more than anything else, at this point.

The clearing suddenly felt a lot older- like it had existed forever just to protect and hide this shrine. On top of the shrine, leaves and plant matter covered a lot of it. It felt like no one had visited it in ages- eons- I couldn't even say how long.

It felt wrong that it was ignored. I felt like I… owed it something.

I walked over to the shrine and started brushing off the leaves and the plant matter, doing my best to clean it up with what I had- my hands, basically. At the very least, I got a lot of the leaves and other stuff off of it, and I brushed some dirt that had been crowding around the base of it. Once I'd finished, I stood up and looked at my handiwork.

As I did so, I heard an indignant, angry squawk- much, much angrier than before. I turned to see the Taillow launching itself at me, and I ducked to avoid catching a beak in the eye or the face. It banked hard right when it passed me and came back for another crack at me.

I was a little scared of the Taillow. Sure, it was just a Taillow, and I could most likely defend myself, even if I was on my own, but still. Pokemon were several times stronger than humans even in their infant forms. I wasn't sure what it would actually be able to do to me.

I wasn't going to get maimed for a stupid reason like this, and I grabbed my first Pokeball I felt in my pocket and tossed it at the ground, intent on having Tina protect me from this rabid fucking bird. I realized my mistake as the Pokeball left my hands.

It wasn't scratched.

I was throwing Abra's ball.

I swore, and tried to dive for it, but it was no good- it hit the ground and opened up, and the Abra was released. The yellow fox-baby thing levitated in the air, and I wondered that, maybe, it wouldn't teleport away.

"Wait!" I said, "Help!"

It turned around, and I could almost swear that I saw guilt in its face.

Then it teleported away, and I yelled.

The soft gunshot sound rang out inside the clearing as the Taillow dove for me a second time.

"FUCK!"

I dove for the ball and shoved it in my pocket, and grabbed my OTHER ball, and threw that one. A much grayer and larger Tina without arms came out and even though that was extremely weird, I didn't bother questioning it.

"Tina, help!"

She let out a deep yawn that sounded like a moan or a roar. She launched herself, and with great accuracy, managed to smack her body into the Taillow, who was promptly knocked out. Then she yawned again and turned sleepy, bleary eyes towards me.

"L-Larv?" She asked.

"Thanks," I breathed, looking at the fallen Taillow. I recalled Tina immediately, and sat in the clearing. I moved towards the Taillow.

It just looked bruised. It was clear that Tina had used good control of her strength, because with how strong she was, against a little bird like Taillow, she could've really hurt it. And it didn't deserve that. It was only defending its territory- and, in a way, I was really the one that was the problem, because I was making it feel threatened.

I got up and went back to the shrine.

It barely had a shape, but whatever it was- I still couldn't tell- it certainly wasn't human, that was probably the only identifiable characteristic about it. As I looked at it, I heard another squawk.

The female Taillow was diving at me, now, and I reached for Tina in my pocket again, but then I heard more noise, and I looked behind me.

I saw an army.

An army of Pokemon.

Sentrets, Rattata, Pidgey and Pidgeotto, more Taillow and other birds as well, maybe even a Spearow or two in there. A Butterfree there, and a few more Mareep, too. They looked much angrier than even the male Taillow had.

I backed up slowly, my body pushed against the shrine.

That was probably the worst thing I could've done.

I wasn't sure that Tina could fight off all of these by herself, even if they were baby, untrained Pokemon. She was weakened and tired by her evolution, not to mention extremely outnumbered. I was still going to try, though.

I reached for my ball, and-

"All of you! Stop!"

An angelic, booming voice echoed throughout the forest. Immediately, all of the Pokemon grew calm and they didn't move- a few of them even appeared to be ashamed or guilty. I whipped my head around, trying to locate the source of the voice.

Even though it was loud, the voice was still graceful.

"He has a right to be here, just as any of you do- he is not here to defile."

What was it talking about? Was it talking about the shrine?

A light, bubbling giggle whispered itself from the trees, and then it continued talking.

"I appreciate your need to defend me, but you know of my power. It isn't like he could do anything, even if he wanted to. You may leave," it said.

It sounded like a chastising mother, more than anything else. The assembled Pokemon let out a few coos and began to depart.

A few of them stayed, and laid around the shrine. I could tell that, even though they were at my feet, they weren't lying by me- I just happened to be next to the shrine.

"Oh, my, were they angry. My feisty little children- well. My father's children, really. We all are His Children, ever since The Time of Contemplation."

"Who's there?" I shouted in the forest. I would be lying if I said I wasn't scared.

Another soft giggle, as light as the wind, but as loud as thunder- it sounded like all the trees were speaking at the same time. I couldn't see what was talking.

Where was it?

"Don't worry," it said. "I'm not going to hurt you. In fact, I'm glad someone dusted off my shrine. That one isn't taken care of anymore," the voice said. "Well, a lot of them aren't. That's just one neglected rock among hundreds."

It sounded sad- maybe a little wistful, about a time past, something that used to be.

"And- and. What's this?"

For the first time, I heard shock and confusion in its voice- and then anger.

"Oh, of course he did."

Then, the tone switched back- back to caring, back to considerate, and it was probably even softer than it had been before.

"Are you alright?" It asked me.

"I can feel your pain- the men, those men that you killed? You don't like it, do you?"

I froze up. Voice stammering, I called out into the trees again.

"Who's there!? How do you know that?"

I heard a soft sigh flow from the leaves and branches of the copse around me. I could swear that some of the trees that were surrounding me moved.

"You really don't know?"

I furrowed my brow, confused and frustrated.

What the hell?

"What the hell? Of course I don't know! I can't even see you," I said.

"Would you feel better if I showed myself?" It asked.

I nodded.

"I think so. It's a little nerve wracking talking to the air around me," I said.

Another giggle burst forth from the vegetation of the trees.

"I suppose so, is it not? I forget how easily mortals are frightened," it said.

"Very well, I shall reveal myself. You're lucky, you know- I have not shown myself to a traveler of my wilds in a very long time- quite long, in fact," it said.

Two trees at one side of the copse parted, and out from it flew a green body. It was going so fast that I couldn't tell what it was- at least, I couldn't, until it stopped.

It looked like a green fairy, or something, with antennae on its head and-

No way.

I took a deep breath, and looked closer, before sighing.

"Celebi, huh?" I asked.

"That's Lady Celebi to you," it said.

I frowned.

"I always thought you were a guy, or genderless. That's what-"

"The games always said?" She finished for me.

She put one of her small thumbs on her chin, staring me in the eyes-

"Oh, so that's it. From another universe and, in that one, they're- fictional?"

"Pokemon are fictional? Interesting," she said.

"Hey! Answer me. Why do I have to call you Lady? And how do you know all that?"

"Well, Lady as a sign of respect, obviously," she said, still staring at me.

"I am the Goddess of the Wilds and the Forests, after all," she said.

"Wait, what about Shaymin?" I asked.

She made a face.

"What about my son? He's not in charge of much," she said, waving a hand.

I sputtered.

"Shaymin is- he's your son?" I asked.

"Of course he is. I guess you could just refer to them as minor legendaries- the weaker ones. A lot of weaker legendaries are either children of the stronger ones- whether they were born the normal way, or created through a Legendary's power," she said.

"I'm reading your mind, by the way. That's how I know all of this," Celebi said.

"Hey- I didn't say you could do that. Get out of my head!" I demanded.

She shook her head.

"I was just curious. Don't get all mad over it. I'm done anyway," she said.

"So, I guess Legendaries are real, huh?" I asked.

She made another face.

"I'd like it if you used my title," she said.

I sighed.

"So, Lady Celebi, Legendaries are real, huh?" I asked.

She brightened and nodded immediately.

"Of course they are. I had no idea my older brother had a hand in this, though," she said. I could feel my eyes widen and my fists clench at what she was implying.

"Palkia?"

Again, she frowned.

"Lord Palkia, actually-"she tried to correct me, but I cut her off.

"He's no lord of mine," I said, fists clenched.

She frowned.

"I won't ask you to refer to him in respect. Perhaps that was too presumptuous of me. But yes, he was the one that brought you here. If I remember right, he and Dialga had a bad altercation a week ago, roughly. Maybe a little more," she said.

"I knew it!" I yelled.

"I knew that he had to do with how I was brought here. I'm his responsibility. I want to be sent back," I said.

"What about Brianna?" Celebi asked me.

"How do you- oh, right, mind reading. I forgot. Well, it's sad, but… I don't belong here in the first place. Can you contact Palkia for me?"

She went silent for a moment and closed her eyes.

I could feel it in the air around me- a concentration of energy. A god's- goddess', actually- power. She was looking.

Only a moment later, she opened her eyes, and what she said infuriated me.

"I can't find him."

"What?"

"I said," She said, "I can't find hi-"

"I know what you said. How can you not find him? You're a goddess, or so you say. Just use some of your power," I said, waving one hand, frustrated, "and find him. It can't be that hard!"

She sighed.

"It is if he doesn't want to be found," she said. "He's more powerful than me. I suspect that he's trying to hide from Father because of what he and Dialga have done- he and Dialga are probably both hiding, I imagine," she said.

I laughed.

"This is great. Now I can't even ask him where Terry and Matt are," I said.

Celebi sighed again.

"I must admit, Daniel. I don't actually owe you anything. You're talking to a goddess here, you should remember," she said. There was some anger and danger in her words.

I was too furious at the time to care.

"I don't care what you are! If you actually read my mind, then you'd know that I never believed strongly in God, and if they actually exist, then they should be taking a more active role in the world. Hey, yeah. That's it," I said, not noticing Celebi's expression changing, "Where were you a few days ago? When the Rockets attacked? Where were you with your godly powers then?"

She narrowed her eyes. Celebi was growing angrier still.

"I owe humans nothing. They were a creation of Father. Why should I defend those who tarnish and destroy my wilds? Especially if the fight is between humans and not Pokemon," she said, dismissing my problems.

"I go to great lengths to make sure I don't interfere- this was a dictation of Father a long while back, to all of the Legendaries. He wanted to see how humans would progress without their gods intervening. Sightings are only by our choice, and we really shouldn't even be doing it. But we never reveal ourselves to large groups of people," she said.

"What if I just lead people here, huh? What then?"

She smiled at me.

"No one would believe you," she said.

I turned my head away and grit my teeth.

Celebi was right, no one would.

"I am not completely omnipotent and omniscient like Father is, either," she said, and I heard some regret in her words as she spoke. "Believe me when I say I would not allow such slaughter to occur. Loss of life without meaning is truly frustrating," she said.

She glanced upon me, and, just for a second, I felt strangely at peace.

Then, it was gone, and she started to speak again.

"I feel sorry for you, Daniel. I cannot help you find Palkia. And my Father takes trips off on his own- sometimes, for years. I do not know where he is either. I can, however, offer you one thing," she said.

"What?" I asked, skeptical.

"I can tell you're a good person, Daniel," Celebi said, and I stared at her as she continued, "So I'll offer you my protection whenever you're in the wilds. It's my domain, and I decide what goes on in here- just like Groudon owns mountains and volcanoes, and Kyogre owns the sea, I own forests and everything like it," she said.

"Do we have a deal?" She asked me.

"Why are you doing this?" I asked.

She sighed.

"I feel some slight responsibility. Even though I'm not supposed to show myself to humans, you've already been through an ordeal because of my brother- I swear, even though he's older, he's the most childish sometimes- and I feel like I should help you, even if only a little bit," she said.

"If you know of everything that ever happens in the wilds," I said, "then where are Terry and Matt?"

She shook her head.

"I've never felt them yet. I promise to contact you if I do."

"I have things to see to," she said. "Goodbye, Daniel."

"Wait! I have other questions!" I said.

Maybe I could ask her about what to say to Brianna?

She shook her head.

"I have things to do, like I said. And some answers you must find on your own. For now, just continue training, and live well. If I ever get any information, the second you step into the wilds, I'll inform you of it," she said. Then she raised a finger to her cheek.

"This feels fake," I said.

"It's not," she said, shaking her head.

"And your Abra is coming back. He feels guilty," Celebi said.

"What?" I asked, but she was already leaving.

A great wind blew through the trees. I felt myself fading- and I fell over, extremely drowsy. I somehow managed to not fall asleep, but by the time I lifted my head, Celebi was gone. I sighed.

I looked at the shrine and brushed some leaves off of it.

"Legendary indeed," I muttered.

XxXxXxXx

It was a few minutes later that Abra teleported back. I could hardly believe it- a soft gunshot, and then the yellow fox baby was floating in front of me. I could even see how it felt, sort of- its ears were pressed against its head, though it made no noise. It floated in front of me, and I swear I could hear something in my head.

At the same time, it was shuddering, though. Violently so. After a few minutes, it stopped- I think it was feeling the aftermath of Celebi even being there. As a psychic Pokemon, it could probably feel it stronger than anything else.

I heard the soft muttering in my head again.

Was Abra trying to talk?

If it was, it wasn't loud enough. I slowly walked towards it, trying not to scare it. When I raised a hand, it flinched, and it probably wanted to teleport away- but instead, I lowered it onto its head and stroked it, comforting Abra.

It barely made any noise this time- the smallest of squeaks, and then it was silent again. I stood in front of it and watched it for a few seconds before I picked Abra's ball off of the ground. I motioned to the ball, then to Abra, and I swear I could've seen its head nod.

I pressed the ball against it and pressed the button, opening the device and sucking Abra inside of it. I pocketed the ball and sighed.

What was I going to do now? Even if I knew that Palkia had brought me here- which I was already almost completely sure of- that didn't help me if I couldn't find him or talk to him. And I hadn't gotten any new information on Terry or Matt.

"Damn it," I muttered, as I started walking from the clearing, going back towards the camp.

At the same time, though, I had a Goddess' protection- and all because she felt sorry for me. That part annoyed me a little, but still- I was pretty sure that the protection part could only be a good thing.

I continued walking, but another thought came to mind as I mulled over the conversation with the Legendary that I'd just had.

If Arceus- Father, as she called him- had told them not to talk to humans, had she just broken a divine rule, or something? Just to talk to me?

I shook my head. In this world, it was hard to make sense of anything.

If she had, though, I guess she deserved a bit more gratitude than I gave her. I had been pretty disrespectful to her, thinking it over- but I'd been so angry about Palkia that it was hard to concentrate on anything else.

I realized that I'd never said thank you.

I was still in the Wilds, could she hear me?

Better to try than to do nothing, I guess.

"Thank you," I said, whispering to the trees around me.

I heard a giggle in a wind that blew by, and then the forest was silent again.

XxXxXxXx

It took me a little while to make it back to the camp- longer than I remembered, for some reason- and then by then, it was already past one, closer to one thirty, estimating by the sun in the sky. I'd gotten better at that since arriving here- especially because for a little while, that had basically been the only way to tell the time.

When I got to the camp, with the fire pit with dirt kicked over it, Brianna was still nowhere to be found. I sighed and walked over to the river, looking for her in her usual spot.

She wasn't there, either, and even though it was probably nothing, I started to panic, even if only slightly. I had heard a few too many horror stories inside of the Pokemon Center for me to not be scared when someone I was just with an hour or two ago went missing inside of a Route or a forest.

"Brianna?" I called, yelling it out to the forest. I got nothing in return, and I sighed. I decided to back to the camp, and wait for her there. She could take care of herself, she probably wasn't in trouble.

There was a nagging feeling in the back of mind, though, that wouldn't go away.

What if she is in trouble?

I shook my head.

She could take care of herself- she'd probably come back in an hour or two, and everything would be fine.

XxXxXxXx

It was two and a half hours before she came back.

Two and a half hours. Let me repeat that one more time.

Two and a half hours.

The second she came stumbling through the brush, dirty and tired, I ran over to her, both angry and concerned, though I couldn't tell which I was more of.

"Where the hell were you?" I asked her, as I looked over her body.

She was pretty dirty. Mud specked all over her clothes, and different kinds of leaves stuck to both her shirt and her pants. I could even see a small twig barely hanging on to her pants leg at the top of her ankle.

Ciri wasn't at her side- instead, she'd recalled her. I could tell by the bulge in her pocket.

She sighed.

"I was… well, Ciri and I were training by the river after I… walked off," she said, trying to dance around the subject of how she'd left, "and then I could've sworn I saw a Chikorita. I always wanted one ever since I was a kid, so I ended up chasing it for a couple of hours," she said.

"Well, did you catch it?" I asked.

She sighed again.

"No. It got away," she said. "I barely ever had my eyes on it the whole time. I'm starting to think it was just another Pokemon that looked like Chikorita, and that I got excited and wasted a bunch of time for nothing," she said.

I ignored what she just said, and instead went for what I felt that I needed to say- for the both of us.

"Are you feeling better about what happened before?" I asked.

I almost felt bad bringing it up, but it had to be said.

She was sheepish, and she twirled a finger around her hair before answering.

"Sort of. I feel bad about what happened- both about how I acted, and what I tried to push you to do- especially when you weren't comfortable with it. I… I don't know why I tried to push it so much," she said.

She looked like she was on the verge of tears.

"It's… it's alright," I said, raising a hand to caress her shoulder.

Her frame shuddered, but she didn't move.

I heard her say something again, but again, I didn't hear it, only noise coming from her mouth.

"Did you say something?" I asked her.

She looked up, smiling, tears running down her eyes.

"No," she said. "I didn't say anything."

XxXxXxXx

After she'd come back, I filled her in on what I'd seen when I'd taken that walk away from camp for a little while.

"So, you're telling me that not only were you brought here because of Palkia," Brianna said, giggling, "you also met Celebi, and now she protects you because she feels bad for you?"

I nodded.

"Why are you laughing?" I asked.

She giggled again, before stopping.

"I don't mean to tease you, Daniel, but… you sound like a liar," she admitted.

I sighed.

"I know, but I'm telling the truth- actually, let's see," I said, standing up.

"Celebi! Can you show yourself so that Brianna knows I'm telling the truth?" I yelled.

Silence.

I sighed.

"Lady Celebi?"

Still, silence. I sighed.

"She said she had things to do," I protested, but I still hung my head. I knew how stupid I looked.

"I could still take you to see the shrine," I said.

Brianna shrugged.

"We might as well. There isn't much else to do. Lead the way," she said, standing up.

XxXxXxXx

She stared at the rough, worn, old shrine. It had taken a little while, but I managed to find it again.

"Wow, you weren't lying," she said.

"Is it really her shrine? There's really no detail because of how old it is, but she said it was," I said.

She nodded.

"I've seen younger better ones when I was with… Jason," she said.

"This matches it pretty well. The details are missing because it's been weathered by wind and rain for so long without anyone out here for hundreds of years… to be honest, I didn't even know there was a shrine in this forest," she said.

"I'm going to report this to the Church in town," she said.

"The Church?" I asked, confused.

"The Church of Arceus. They'll have people go out here and start restoring the statue. This kind of stuff is really, really important to them," she said, running a soft hand over the rough, weathered stone.

I frowned, remembering something.

"What is The Time of Contemplation?" I asked.

Brianna turned, raising her red eyebrows at me.

"How do you know that? Did you read that somewhere, or hear about it, or…?" She asked, trailing off. I shook my head.

"I told you, I talked to Celebi. She mentioned it while we were talking. What the hell is The Time of Contemplation?" I asked.

Brianna sighed.

"Maybe you really aren't lying," she said.

"What is it?" I asked, persistent.

She sighed again, before answering me.

"Supposedly, Arceus was either born from an egg when there was nothing else in existence, or He was always in existence. Either way, He was the first, and he created everything else. The time before he did this is called the Time of Contemplation," she said.

"So, he contemplated?" I asked.

She giggled.

"Wow, your powers of deduction are unmatched. Yes, he sat there and thought about the negatives and positives that creating life would bring. The stories differ, because there are different versions, but most agree that he sat there for what must've been eons. At the end of it all, he decided that it was worth it, and so the world was born," she said.

"That's sort of interesting," I said. "In a religion on my world, God created the world in six days, and rested on the seventh. Arceus seems pretty indecisive," I said.

She laughed.

"Maybe," she admitted. "If he's real, though, I'm glad he made the right choice," she said.

"It's so hard to believe half of the stuff that you say," she said, still running a hand over the rough gray stone.

I shrugged.

"I'm not lying. It's your choice to believe me or not," I said.

"I do… sort of," she said. "It's hard to believe everything that you say, but I still believe a lot of it. If anything, I know you're a good person, and that helps your credibility along," she said. I nodded, then paused for a moment and brought out Abra's ball out of my pocket.

"Oh yeah, did I mention this?" I asked, tossing the ball onto the ground and catching it on the bounce back up.

Once released, Abra floated in the air and stared at Brianna, who gasped.

"How did you get him to stay without teleporting, or anything like that?" she asked.

I grinned.

"I didn't. The first time I threw his ball was by accident- like I told you, he teleported. I forgot to tell you that he came back because he was feeling bad that he'd left me when I needed him, even though I was never in any real danger because of Celebi- and yeah, it's a he by the way," I said, nodding towards the floating Abra.

Brianna just stared at him for a few seconds. It didn't seem that Abra was nervous towards her staring, but it still looked right back at her while she did so. I grinned again.

"Is he really that interesting?" I asked.

She shook her head, smiling.

"It's not that. It's just that you usually don't get to see an Abra so close. I think that might be the only way to do it, actually- the way you did it," she said.

"What, have a Legendary tell me when he's coming back?" I quipped.

She giggled.

"Stop being a smartass. No, I think the only way to do it is to have it… trust you," she said, reaching out with one hand slowly and resting it on the Abra's head before she started petting it. I heard very little noise besides a few tiny squeaks from the Abra. He was a fox-thing, so that made sense. I just figured a psychic Pokemon would be able to speak sooner.

Then it did.

"Abra," he managed to say, though it was really quiet and hoarse and it only served to point out just how weak his vocal cords were. He obviously used his brain and his powers for everything. I wondered if Kadabra and Alakazam lost their voices after living for a while, and had to only speak through their minds. It would make sense.

"He's so cute," Brianna gushed.

I nodded.

"Yeah, I guess he is," I said. He turned to me and didn't say anything, but he stared into my eyes. It was weird- it wasn't the same thing as looking at Tina, or even some other Pokemon. While other Pokemon could think and they certainly had feelings- they were sentient, no doubt- Abra was different for reasons that were hard to explain. As I stared into his eyes, though, I think I was able to figure it out.

He was smarter.

It was really just that simple.

There was a difference between something like an Abra- who would one day evolve into an Alakazam, something much, much smarter than I could ever hope to be- and a Larvitar, who would eventually evolve into a Tyranitar. Tina wasn't stupid- as she got more mature, she'd probably even get a little smarter. It wasn't the same thing as something that eventually would be a genius, though.

Hey.

That was the perfect name.

"I know just what I'll nickname you," I said, reaching forward and petting Abra on the head. He nuzzled into my hand a bit, but didn't move. I saw his ears flick forward, and he dropped a bit in the air before he raised himself back up to his previous height.

Right when he did, though, I heard something in my mind.

What?

It was so small and soft that I could hardly hear it at all. It still surprised me, though.

"Einstein," I said, still petting Abra.

"I'm going to name you Einstein."

"Who's that?" Brianna asked.

"Einstein was a famous scientist from my world. His contributions to science are hard to overestimate. Not only was he a genius of his field, he's considered by a lot of people the smartest man who ever lived. His intellect was basically unmatchable. His name, these days, in my world, means the same thing as genius in the dictionary," I said.

"Wow," Brianna said. "Sounds like you're giving Abra here a compliment," she said.

I shrugged.

"When he's an Alakazam, that name's probably going to be too little of an actual estimate of how smart he'll really be- when he has five thousand IQ or whatever. Still, I think it fits him, and it's what I used to always name by Abra in the games," I said.

"Well," Brianna said, still staring at Abra, "I think it's a good name."

I nodded, then got the Pokeball and recalled Abra inside. I knew that they had to sleep like eighteen hours out of the day, and I'd seen him already starting to get drowsy. His eyes hadn't been open, but he'd been paying attention, so I figured he'd been awake.

I put the Pokeball back in my pocket and motioned to the entrance of the clearing.

"Want to go back?" I asked.

Brianna nodded.

XxXxXxXx

We made it back to the camp in record time and spent the rest of the day talking. We didn't do much else. It was boring for the rest of the trip, and we woke up the next day, ready to head home.

We had breakfast and then promptly set out.

Overall, I was happy with this trip. A lot had happened over the past two days, and I was eager to get back to the hospital and relate a lot of this stuff to Jack. He didn't like being kept out of the loop, like he said, and I planned on keeping him inside of it if I could.

We made good time, getting back to the town by a little after noon. We ate lunch right before we got back, and Brianna split up from me for a bit with the intention of going to visit her parents. I waved her goodbye and we agreed that we would meet back up at the hospital in less than half an hour to visit Jack and tell him about what had happened.

We were going to have to rest up for a week or more- probably more- while we waited on Jack to heal up. That wasn't even mentioning the fact that I didn't really want to leave town and start exploring outwards without having Tina evolved.

It was more for safety than any other reason, but I was being a little paranoid- and even I recognized and accepted this. The sad part was that even though I realized I was being paranoid, it made sense to be. After I'd barely survived the attack with the Rockets- and Jack had come even closer to death than I had- it had made me more scared than I cared to admit.

I hadn't thought about the Rockets in a few hours, but every time, even lately, the guilt still resurfaced whenever I thought of them- as did the fear. I wasn't going to let it control me, though, and I wasn't going to let it win, either.

Having an evolved Pokemon with me when we went on our first large trip would help me feel a lot better, so that's why I was going to wait. In all honesty, it was probably for the best. Jack could use as much time as he could get to rest, anyway.

I stopped in the Center for a time, going to my room and changing the bandages on my right arm. It was still a little sore, but it was healing really well, and the wound was almost completely closed. I was almost certain that in a few more days I wouldn't have to wear bandages anymore because it would be fully healed.

Once I cleaned myself and took off a quick shower, and then changed the bandages, I wasted no time in leaving the Center again, and making it a point to rush for the hospital to meet up with Tina there.

She had seemed better the next day- she wasn't as emotional, and I didn't see her crying anymore. She even smiled a little more. I still felt that there was something that she wasn't telling me. What it was, I couldn't tell. I could see it in her eyes, though- most of the time, she refused to look me in mine, or she looked a different way while she was talking.

It didn't bother me much, though, because I figured that it couldn't be anything that was really that important. If she wanted to tell me- and only if- she would tell me when she was ready. Not everything about her was my business.

Brianna was standing in front of the hospital when I got there. She'd already changed her clothes, as had I- just for hygiene reasons. I was wearing some different t-shirt and a different pair of pants, and from what it looked like, she'd just gotten another pair of denim pants and changed her shirt. Her attire was mostly the same as it had been on our most recent excursion.

When I ran up to the entrance of the hospital, she smiled at me.

"Hey," I said, wheezing as I came to a stop in front of the doors. That was one thing that I knew I would have to work on as a trainer- my own endurance. I tired far too easily and it would be bad, if, for any reason, I needed to run and I couldn't. It's what I got for being lazy and lying around, playing video games all day. I wasn't fat, but don't count on me to run a mile.

Even Brianna seemed a little more durable than me- probably because she'd trained and went on long walks/runs/hikes before. She knew how to pace herself and was used to the feeling, most likely. That was the excuse I was going to give to save my pride, at least.

"Hey yourself," she said, laughing. "Did you run all the way here?"

I nodded, too tired for words for a moment. I gasped for air like a fish out of water.

"Yeah, I," I said, coughing for a moment, "I did. I need to start running anyway, I… I get tired too easily," I said, bending over and putting my hands on my knees.

She nodded, agreeing.

"I think so too," she said, before she walked inside. I took a few more breaths before following her, still hot and looking forward to the air conditioning inside of the building.

I pushed through the door and followed her inside, sighing as the cool air hit my body. A few of the people in the lobby stared at me and gave me weird looks, but I ignored them. I followed Brianna to the elevator. We usually used the stairs, but I didn't feel like it this time, probably because I was still wheezing from running all the way here.

We hit the button for the floor that Jack was on, and waited. We were the only people in the elevator- it didn't seem that there were many people in the hospital today.

The elevator music here was weird. It wasn't as calming as the music from my world- maybe just another difference. It sounded closer to classic rock than anything else. It was actually connected to a radio station, from what I could tell.

"So," Brianna asked me, as we were going up, "how do you think he's doing?"

I shrugged.

"Fine, probably. He's bored out of his mind for sure, though," I said.

I knew Jack well enough to know that.

It took a minute, but once we hit the floor that Jack was on, we stepped out of the elevator and made for his room, wasting no time. I knocked on his door, and then stepped inside, and was followed by Brianna. When we entered, Jack was already awake, though he looked drowsy.

"Did I wake you up?" I asked, as I sat down next to him. Brianna took a seat as close to me as she could, and smiled at Jack, who was still tired.

"Maybe- yeah, you did," he said, pushing himself up to a sitting position in bed.

"So, how have you been?" I asked.

He nodded a few times- he almost looked like a bobble head.

"I-I'm alright, you know? It's just I'm still a little out of it. It's not exactly happy, you know. You'd be surprised what taking diluted Chansey Egg and pain medication at the same time does to you. I'm-"he said, stopping for a moment, holding his stomach.

He took a deep breath, and groaned

Then he pointed to it.

"I'm in and out of the bathroom all day, I- I got stomach problems. Nausea, gas. It's usually mild, but sometimes it flares up, and that sucks. My stomach is still healing. It's a lot better than it was, but I'm gonna need to stay here a little while longer- based on what they tell me, anyway," he said.

He was sweating a little, and he ran a hand across his forehead before wiping it on the sheets, and falling back onto the bed, lying down, head on the pillow. He wrapped himself in his sheets, then kicked them off, before repeating what he'd just done another two or three times. "You're really hurt bad, huh?" I asked.

He nodded, coughing, turning pained eyes towards me.

"It's- it's not as bad as it looks, but yeah. It's alright, though. The nurses have been saying my tolerance towards Chansey Egg has been going up, which is good for me. It should mean fewer problems for me while I'm healing. I got shot in the stomach, Daniel. It's not going to be pleasant, healing. It'd be ridiculous if it was," he said, groaning.

"Yeah," I said, watching him, trailing off.

It was strange. Maybe he'd been hiding it somehow the times before, or, maybe, I'd been an asshole and just didn't notice it until this visit, but he seemed a lot more like a sick person than the other times. Before, he'd just looked hurt, and tired, but now? He was coughing, sweaty, and groaning every thirty seconds. I saw his hands make their way to his stomach more than once, clenching and grabbing at it.

It was a stomach wound, like he'd pointed out- most likely, there had either been complications that had popped up and his condition had worsened to this, or it had just taken time for the doctors to notice everything that was wrong with him. That and the Chansey Egg that he'd mentioned. Diluted? What did that mean? Was it too strong to be given to him pure?

"Well, it's kind of funny," I said, trying to take his mind off of the pain, "you've only missed more stuff while you were here."

Jack groaned.

"I knew it! I knew that it would happen!"

I only laughed.

Jack threw his hands in the air in frustration, before sighing.

"So, what happened?"

I filled him in on everything that had happened, including Celebi. It took me a few minutes, but I eventually told him everything. After, he was silent for a moment before speaking up.

"So, an Abra?"

I nodded.

"And you saw a Legendary?" He asked.

"Yep," I said, nodding.

He turned to Brianna.

"You didn't see this, right?" Jack asked her.

Brianna shook her head, her red frizzy hair shaking back and forth as she did so.

"No, I didn't see anything. Not anything about Celebi, at least- I've already seen the Abra. I'm having a hard time believing him, to be honest," she said.

Jack nodded.

"I believe him. I know that you wouldn't lie about stuff like that," Jack said.

I grinned.

"Thanks man."

"It's no problem," he insisted. He moved around a little bit in the bed, and coughed again, wiping his forehead.

"What exactly did he say? Celebi, that is?"

I shook my head. I'd only told him that I'd met Celebi. I didn't tell him about the specifics, or the conversation that had taken place between us.

"It's Lady Celebi," I said.

"She's a girl?" Jack asked, confused.

"Yeah- but that's not the thing. It's Lady Celebi because it's like her title or whatever," I said.

Jack shrugged, and then sort of nodded.

"Well, if she is a goddess, then… Lady Celebi, I guess," he said.

"Yeah, I called her that too, at least while I was talking to her. I think I might as well pay her some respect, considering what she said she was going to do for us," I said.

Jack raised his brow.

"What did she say?"

"Well, she confirmed that Palkia and Dialga had a fight a little while ago. She said it was the thing that brought us here."

Jack swore.

"I knew that it was them. I knew it."

He sighed.

"Well, did she mention Terry or Matt, at the very least?"

"She said she hadn't seen them. Because she's the Goddess of the Wilderness- or so she told me- she can see everything inside of the wilds. I think that means that they ended up in a city or something like that," I said.

"Well, that's good then, right?" Jack asked. "At least that means they didn't get eaten by an Ursaring or something. They're probably still out there."

I nodded.

"Yeah, that's the positive way of looking at it. We also still have no idea where they are, at all. We don't know where Palkia is either, and I have no idea how to find him."

"The last thing she said she was going to do- and this is why I'll show her some respect- is she said that she felt guilty about what her brother did, and that she would offer us protection in the wilderness."

Jack raised a brow.

"Protection?" He asked.

I shrugged.

"Yeah, that's what Lady Celebi said. So, maybe if we get attacked or something, she'll intervene. That's what I'm guessing. I don't know to what extent, though."

Jack grinned.

"Well, that's a load off, right? We have something pretty strong on our side."

I nodded, though I wasn't completely sure.

"… Yeah, I guess," I said. "It kind of felt fake, though," I said.

"What do you mean?" he asked, frowning.

"It's just…" I said, trailing off, frustrated at my inability to articulate what I wanted to.

"I feel like she won't actually come true on her promise… if she said she was a goddess, and that she shouldn't be interfering in the first place, then making contact with me at all was bad enough, right? What about showing herself to fight- and showing favoritism? Wouldn't that be even worse?"

Jack shrugged.

"I wasn't there, man- you were."

"You should just trust her," Jack said, before he coughed again.

"I mean, if you really saw her- and she told you about some stuff, and it seemed like she was on your side, then why would she lie to you? There's no point to it," Jack said.

I shook my head.

"Maybe I'm just over thinking it," I said.

Jack yawned.

"Probably, dude. What about you, Brianna?"

Brianna turned to him, waiting.

"What do you have to say about this?"

She shook her head.

"I don't know. I can't even decide if I believe you two about coming from a different world. One huge thing like that was already enough to consider- but now, this? This is the kind of thing that people lie about all the time. There's always some idiot trying to sell a tape to the news with real Celebi information," she said.

I sighed.

"Don't worry about it, Brianna. I see where you're coming from. It's not like I have proof- I lost the DS when we came here," I said.

"Convenient, if you ask me," Brianna said. She wasn't being condescending, though- only truthful. It was more than a stretch, and I knew it. I couldn't blame her for not believing the boy that cried another world- and then, only a few days after the boy had said that, the boy that cried Celebi.

"Yeah, I know," I said.

Jack shrugged.

"Like I said, Daniel, I don't think you should worry about it too much," he said.

"There are more important things to worry about for now. We should be focusing hardest on trying to find Terry and Matt, and not much else," Jack said.

"That, and training- that's my two cents, Daniel," he said.

I nodded.

"I know… it's just, it's hard not to think about it," I said.

Jack gave me an understanding smile, and then he coughed again.

"I'm surprised that I even managed to catch that Abra," I said.

Jack nodded.

"You're one lucky bastard, that's for sure, Daniel. I could hardly believe it when you told me. How did it not sense you?" Jack asked.

"I was as quiet as I could possibly be. I just tried to focus on other things when I was catching it. I almost threw the damn ball blind, at least mentally. I made sure that catching it wasn't at the forefront of my mind- I figured that it would sense that. Instead, I just looked at the trees, at the grass, the ground- whatever. Anything but the Abra," I said.

Jack nodded, then coughed again.

"Yeah, it makes sense. I think I want to try to sleep some, guys. So, not to be rude, but could you get out?" he asked.

I nodded.

"Yeah, yeah… that's not a problem. Try to rest if you can, Jack," I said.

Brianna gave him similar words of encouragement and then we left the room quick, heading back toward the elevator. The entire time, my brow was furrowed.

Brianna frowned.

"Is there something wrong?" she asked.

I shook my head.

"It's just… I'm worried about Jack," I admitted.

Brianna rolled her eyes.

"The medical care is very good here, I'm sure he'll be fine," she said.

"I know that… but it still doesn't sit well with me. Before he seemed better, and now that he's taking so much Chansey Egg, he's like that- all coughing, and sweaty, and… well, he said that he was throwing up, too- that can't be good, either," I said.

She put a hand on my shoulder as we walked towards the elevator.

"Trust me, it's not anything new. I remember when I was nine or ten, I got sent into the hospital for the first time for real. I broke my leg in a really bad way- I fell on it in one of the worst ways possible, basically. It was fractured in like five places. I was just like him when I was taking the Chansey Egg- trust me, I remember. Lying in bed all day like that, yuck. The symptoms will fade soon, and he'll leave the hospital fully healed. That's just how it is," she said. We walked through the elevator door as it opened and pressed first floor.

"Does it really fully cure anything like that?" I asked.

"Almost anything, yeah. Diluted Chansey Egg is really good for treatment over a few weeks. Pure Chansey Egg can heal you in a matter of seconds, but most hospitals only use it in the ER when someone is going to die. Otherwise, they don't touch it," she said.

"Why?" I asked.

"A few reasons- first, by the way, pure Chansey Egg is addictive to a degree, which they don't want. It also can heal your body the wrong way, and you'd just need surgery again later, anyway. If they introduce it to the body while it's diluted, not only does it speed up recovery immensely, but it also gives the body needed nutrients and stuff like that. It's just really good for you if it's diluted, but pure, not so much. Sometimes it can be too much for a person's body," she said.

"Chansey Egg Overdose?" I said, with humor in my voice. It was a little hilarious, and hard to believe, besides. Brianna glanced over at me.

"I'm serious," she said. "It's hurt people really bad before."

"Has it ever, you know… killed anyone?" I asked.

She nodded.

"It's extremely rare, though. Still, better not to take the chance. Humans aren't supposed to actually be eating the egg in the first place. Chansey usually just give it to other Pokemon- and their bodies are much stronger than ours. I mean, your Pidgeotto got shot up, but it was really young and pretty weak for a species. It's all in perspective- even as a Larvitar, Tina wouldn't have been really hurt by bullets. And if your Pidgeotto had grown into a Pidgeot, the bullets would've barely harmed it either."

I nodded.

"I guess that makes sense. Still, overdose? I guess that's why they dilute it, then," I said.

"Yeah, it goes through this whole process with water, and stuff. They crack the egg, take the yolk, and then cut off a small part of it as a dose. Then water gets added and it gets treated a lot with more water and time before they ever actually give it to anyone," she said.

"The Egg that Jack is being treated with is probably like thirty percent pure or something like that. Anything over fifty can start to be dangerous for the human body," she said. "Especially when you're trying to heal," she added.

I chuckled.

"You sure learned a lot in Pokemon School, huh?"

"I wanted to be a nurse not too long ago- for humans, that is. I was reading about this kind of stuff a few months back," she said, as we reached the first floor and started heading out of the hospital.

I raised my eyebrows at that. A nurse, her? It actually fit, though, once I thought about it- she was caring and nagging enough, and that fit the bill alone. One thing didn't fit, though.

"Why did you stop?" I asked.

She turned to me.

"What?"

"I asked, why did you stop?"

She shrugged.

"Different things- I was a little naïve about what the job actually entailed. Things like that. Not to mention that it just sort of fell out of interest. I'm not really sure what I want to do anymore," she said.

"Well, you're coming with me when we leave, right?" I asked.

She nodded.

"Well, maybe you'll figure out along the way. You can still try training, you know," I said.

She nodded again.

"I know… it's just hard to decide. I'll figure it out somehow," she said.

I grinned.

"I know you will," I told her.

XxXxXxXxXx

Brianna and I split ways for a little while after we left the hospital, and the entire way to the Pokemon Center, I had time to think about what I was going to do next.

Tina would evolve soon, hopefully, though I was in no rush after I'd seen how Jack had been. Once he was ready, we would all leave and go north. I wanted to see more of the world, and traveling increased our chances of finding Matt and Terry- at least, I thought it did. If there weren't here, then they had to be somewhere else.

And the only way to find them was to look.

With that, the only thing really left to do was wait.

XxXxXxXx

Time passed, as it usually did.

Brianna reported the shrine to the Church, and there was someone going out there every day, restoring it. They'd been really happy to find it, apparently. From what they said, in their own words:

'A Daughter of Arceus is extremely important to the Church.'

I spent a week going out, and training. Brianna came with me once or twice, but she was more distant ever since we'd come back from the two day trip. We didn't spend any more days in the wilderness- we took to staying close to the city so that we didn't have to do that. I couldn't tell what was up with her- she seemed more emotional than usual- really, just sadder than she'd ever been.

For most of the time that I'd known her, she'd been a mostly soft-spoken girl, but that didn't mean sad or unhappy- certainly not like she was right now. No, she'd always seemed quietly cheerful, and happy about what was around her.

At least, that was how I'd always seen her.

Maybe I'd been horribly blind for the first few days of meeting her.

I tried to talk to her about it more than once, but I never got anything from her- not really. She'd either ignore the question, prance around it like a fucking land mine, or worse, she'd just tear up, and I'd be forced to stop due to guilt.

At the same time, though, it tore me up to see her like this.

She became clingy, and although nothing like that racy time we'd had in the forest happened- where she'd pushed me down and tried to take off my pants- it was almost worse in a way, because whenever she was with me, which was a lot, it was almost like she never wanted to let go of me.

Whenever I was in town, not training, she was almost always there- and she even came out to train Ciri with me three or four days that entire week.

The time I spent out there was mostly trying to get Einstein stronger. I had… checked, later, and he was indeed a boy. I had him square off against Ciri more than once, and tried to develop his abilities, but it was slow going. Frustratingly slow, actually. I kept at it, though, because that was the only way that anything was ever going to happen.

It was on the seventh day of that week that anything interesting happened with Abra's training.

It was the first time that I'd really heard him speak.

All along, I could hear little words and thoughts in my head, that I knew weren't my own. I knew they were Abra's, instead, but I couldn't really make anything out. They were too quiet and unclear for that. I had him Teleporting a lot and trying to use Confusion- barely picking up a small rock in the process- but that was about it. I had no idea how to train a psychic Pokemon.

It appeared that the mental stimulation and work I was giving him had to be enough, because that day was the first day that I ever heard him speak.

It was just me, alone, a few miles out of town. Brianna hadn't come with me that day, and I was enjoying it more and more. I didn't hate Brianna or anything. The opposite, actually. It was just that I needed some me time. She was always on my arm, always talking to me, and though I enjoyed spending time with her as I had been, when it became twenty four seven, it almost felt like a job or an obligation, instead of a relationship.

The daily training trips were good ways to get away from that. Even if she came with me, she was focused on something else than kissing me. Nothing major had happened since that day, but she'd become even more affectionate over time. It didn't seem like it was going to change, and so I accepted it. Enjoyed it, even.

It had been in the middle of a Teleporting and Confusion routine when he'd first spoke to me.

I'd been pushing him hard- maybe too hard, really- and he'd spoke out against it.

"Teleport!" I yelled.

A soft-gunshot, echoing through the forest, and he moved a few feet to the right. It wasn't one teleport that drained him. It was the next repeated forty after that I had him do.

I could see his heavy breathing, the way his frame quaked and shook. His levitation even seemed to waver.

"Again!" I said.

A soft gunshot, echoing through the forest, and he moved a few feet to the left.

I continued going on about it for a while more.

"Again!"

"Again!"

"One more time!"

It was probably around the twenty third Teleport when he spoke.

Cut it out.

He didn't Teleport that time. He levitated in the air, and took a breath.

I need a break.

My jaw fell open, and I wrestled for words, flabbergasted.

"You can talk?"

I heard something like a snide, condescending snort in my mind, and then a response.

Of course I can. You're just too dumb to hear.

I was too surprised at the moment to be angry, but I did point out the alternative, and insist it.

"I'm pretty sure you're just too quiet and soft to hear," I said.

"I've been hearing you in my head for probably a week now. Quiet little words and thoughts in my head. That was you, wasn't it?" I asked.

Yes, it was.

"I knew it," I stated. "What made it different this time?"

I was tired.

I nodded, sort of. I could understand it. He didn't want to train anymore.

I just expected to happen at a more interesting time- in the middle of a battle, maybe. Right when he had something that he really needed to tell me?

Maybe I had watched too many TV dramas. It would happen when it happened, and that just so happened to be now.

"So, do you want to go back into the ball, or-"

Yes. I need to sleep.

That was the other weird thing about Einstein. I knew that Abra slept a lot, but holy crap, it was like taking care of a baby at times. He slept eighteen hours a day and my schedule for training basically revolved around him waking up at a certain time, and then going to sleep a short six hours later.

It was just about that time.

"Alright," I said, reaching inside my pocket and grabbing my ball.

"I didn't expect you to be able to speak so early," I said.

Yeah, well, I'm not like a human.

Obviously. He was going to develop faster, especially now that he'd really gotten a start, finally. It would likely be a while before he evolved, but his mental capacity would probably never stop growing, now. That's what I'd gotten from some stuff on Abra at the library. I'd read up on them once I'd caught Einstein.

I heard a chuckle in my head, but I didn't respond to it. He apparently found something funny. I threw the ball at him and sucked him inside, and put it in my pocket.

Then I headed back to town.

XxXxXxXx

I headed for the Center as soon as I got back into town. I was tired, and I was going to take a nap. It was probably too early for it, and it would probably mess up my sleep schedule, but screw it. It wasn't like there was anything else to do.

When I got to my room, I found Brianna there, sitting on my bed, waiting for me.

I smiled at her as I walked in, and closed the door behind me.

I sat down on the bed next to her.

She did not look happy.

It looked like she'd been crying, so I put a hand on her shoulder.

"What's wrong?"

I kept my smile up even though I actually didn't feel like smiling. There was something wrong. She could've just been being really emotional again, but I didn't think it was like that this time.

She sniffled, and then she spoke.

"I have something I have to say," she said. She sounded like she hadn't had anything to drink in forever. Her voice was scratchy and it cracked.

"What?"

She let out a sob, and then sniffled.

"I've been lying to you," she said. "There's... I never told you the whole truth about Jason. We…. He was…" she said.

"What? What is it?" I asked her.

She hung her head.

"We were in a relationship," she said, crying. "I… he was my first. I- I never told you, I don't know why, but I felt that I had to tell you now. I've been worrying about it all week, but with Jack looking a lot better- I checked on him today, by the way- I figured that we were going to leave pretty soon. I wanted to say it before we left town," she said.

She looked miserable. Her red frizzy hair didn't look the same- it looked ragged, not frizzy. It wasn't the same, and I could tell.

"So, is that it?" I asked.

She looked up, her face a red mess of tears and self-hatred.

"You're not mad?" she whispered.

I chuckled.

She wasn't stupid, but she was naïve. I guess I was too, though, so it was alright.

"No. Why would I be?"

She wiped at her face with her sleeves.

"I-I don't know. I think I build things up in my head too much," she said, giggling.

"You think?" I asked her.

I hugged her and pulled her close to me, and for a few moments, nothing else mattered. I could feel her body shake, and then stop- and then, again, it shook. And this time it didn't stop. She cried for a while, but when she was done, I could tell just by looking at her that she felt a lot better.

I didn't want to ruin her day.

But I had to ask.

"Brianna, what did Jason do to you?"

She gasped, her breath hitched in her throat, and she looked over at me like I'd uttered a blasphemy. Then she turned her stare from me, to the floor instead.

"It was more that he betrayed me than anything else, I guess," she said, her voice low and quiet.

"I… I trusted him, and he took that trust, and mangled it, and crushed it. I guess that's what it was. I remember coming home. I cried the whole way. The worst part was I couldn't understand why he'd done it," she said.

She fell quiet.

"Go on," I said.

"I… I didn't understand it. He was a Rocket, right? That meant he could've just robbed me from the beginning, and just left me there. But no, he didn't do that. Instead, he… pretended to love me, let me gain Pokemon, friends of my own, and let me work for my own small tournament and battle winnings. He let this go on for months, and then he did it," she said. She sniffled again.

"The only thing I can think of this that he did it, on purpose, to hurt me," she said.

It was hard to see her like this and the longer I looked, the longer I watched, it only made me angrier, and made me hate Jason more.

The memory of the Rockets came back, and it almost made me sick, but instead it fueled a new desire- the memory, it fueled a desire to do to what I did to them, to Jason.

It's interesting, isn't it? How humans can hate each other so much? Here I was, listening to my girlfriend crying about her past boyfriend, and even though I could be understandably pissed off at him, it didn't necessarily give me the right to kill him. Yet here I was, hands clenching the sheets, imagining ripping them- and him- apart.

Why did people have to be like this? Hurt each other so much, over things so stupid, so trivial. Things that didn't matter- money, possessions. Stupid fucking things like that.

No, I knew what I was going to do.

If I ever met Jason, I was going to kill him.

With my own hands.

If I had to, I'd have Tina pin him down and help me strangle him to death.

It was what he deserved.

Even though it scared me to think that way- that I would do it- I believed I could.

There was no doubt in my mind that in the years that Tina hadn't seen this guy, he'd probably been busy doing the same thing to other people- breaking the hearts of other girls, probably killing people himself, beating, stealing from others.

"Daniel?"

"What?"I asked her. I was so concentrated on my violent vision that I had hardly been paying attention to her.

"You aren't going to do anything, are you?" she asked me.

I shrugged.

"I'm probably not going to seek him out personally because he's just a grunt and that would be too hard, but if I somehow found him by chance, well," I said, staring straight ahead at the wall of the Pokemon Center.

"He won't get away," I whispered.

I wasn't sure if she heard me.

It felt good… to say that. It was almost disgusting, but my rage and hate easily overpowered my comparatively weak morals. I'd been in a similar line of thought back home- I always thought prisons should have much worse conditions- not to mention that the death penalty should've been faster and should have been active in every state.

Of course, back then, I was just some dumb kid in America. I had no power, and no will to actually do those things. But, after the Rocket Attack… once I'd came to terms with what I'd done, the idea seemed to appeal to me.

The idea that I could just… kill bad people.

If someone attacked me in the wilderness, and no one else was around, no one was there to enforce the law. Just dump the body in the woods. Pokemon will eat it.

It was a horrible way to think, but I couldn't help it.

And, all of it, really, was the Rocket's fault.

Maybe they just dredged up hate and anger that was already there, or maybe I was just feeling normal human feelings that most people felt every once in a while, only amplified because of what they'd done.

In the end, though, it didn't matter.

Because now I hated the Rockets.

"Daniel?" I heard a voice ask. I turned to Brianna, who was staring at me, trembling.

"You're scaring me," she said.

I sighed.

I couldn't ignore it, though.

It was bubbling up inside me.

The very idea of it, their arrogance, their… the way they handled everything, it rubbed me the wrong way.

And I couldn't hold it in anymore.

"I'm sorry," I said. "They just… they make me so angry!" I yelled.

"How could they do that to people!?" I shouted, and though I was scaring Brianna, and that made me feel terrible, I didn't want to stop now.

I wanted to let it out.

I couldn't stop now. Not now.

"They're just… they just make me want to..."

I let out a scream of rage and punched the bed- and then, in frenzy, did it again and again. It didn't hurt or feel satisfying, but I felt like I had to hit something, so I did.

"Why? WHY?"

I shouted at the roof. I almost wished that Arceus would come down and tell me why.

"WHY? TELL ME WHY!"

Even while I was shouting, though, I knew that there was no reason why.

Well, there was, but there was no actual reason.

Greed, corruption, and the desire for power- these were the reasons why. But they were such shitty reasons to hurt people, to kill people- all over money, all over possessions.

I breathed heavily, and l glanced over at Brianna.

She was staring at me, trembling.

"…Daniel?" she asked, trembling.

Was she actually scared of me?

Any residual anger and hate faded away as I watched her terrified eyes staring at me.

"Brianna, it's not-"I said, reaching for her, but she flinched back.

She flinched back from me.

Her brilliant emerald eyes shone with water, and her red hair fell around her as she moved backwards on the bed, away from me.

My jaw dropped open, and I didn't say anything.

Any residual anger and hate instead turned into shame.

Then I hung my head.

"Brianna, I'm…" I said, trying to find the right words.

"I'm sorry for scaring you like that, but you have to understand… I…"

I forced out the words, even though I didn't want to.

"The thought of it, the mere thought, makes me so furious. I can't believe how they hurt me, they hurt Jack! They hurt you! And it… it infuriates me, beyond belief. I'm sorry if I scared you, Brianna, but… if I ever see them, I'm certainly not giving them any kind of break," I said.

Brianna gave the tiniest of nods, and moved closer towards me.

"Did he… did he ever hit you?" I asked her.

I was, of course, talking about Jason. The way she flinched, that reminded me of what abused people would do. It was the same movement- the flinching back.

She nodded, wordlessly.

"This went on for a while before he actually robbed and left you didn't it?" I asked.

She nodded.

There was no rage left, so I didn't get angry.

What I got instead was curious.

"Why? Why stay with him?" I asked.

It didn't make any sense.

"M-maybe because I loved him, idiot," she said. "Like I love you," she said, and then she kissed me.

I was surprised by it, but I didn't pull away. I let her go as long as she wanted to.

When we pulled away from each other, her cheeks were tear stained, but her mouth was smiling- and, God, her eyes.

Her eyes were beautiful.

"Are you alright?" she asked.

"Are you?" I countered her.

She nodded, clutching the sheets of the bed.

"I think I will be. I still feel bad for lying to you, though," she said.

"Don't be. Past relationships aren't really any of my business, anyway," I said.

I knew that I had just contradicted myself, but she'd been the one to tell me- I hadn't pressured it out of her or something. Not to mention that the guy was scum, trash, and deserved to die anyway. I would just be giving him what he had coming.

"I'm glad you finally said this, though," I admitted.

She raised her eyebrows, appearing confused.

"I thought you said that you didn't know," she said.

"I didn't know the specifics, but I could tell just from the way you were acting. You were being more mopey and clingy than usual all week. I just never asked you about it because I figured that it was something personal. And I was right," I said.

I didn't like being right.

XxXxXxXx

Brianna and I both calmed down after that, and it seemed that the discussion had been the best for both of us.

It was a little while after that when I decided to let Tina out of her ball for the first time in a week.

"Is this far good?" Brianna asked me.

I turned to her, breathing hard and sweating even harder.

"Yeah, I- I think so. Let's stop."

We'd walked for a while, and it seemed to be getting hotter- not anything surprising, because if the seasons of this place and the seasons of home were similar, it was getting closer and closer to summer.

I dropped down and sat in the grass for a few moments, catching my breath. We wanted to go a decent distance out of town before we released her, if only because we wanted her to have some room to try out her moves now that she would probably be much stronger.

After we'd rested for a few minutes, we were ready.

First I released Einstein.

The red beam shimmered as it left the Pokeball, and then formed into the yellow, brown armored fox that I'd come to know well through the past week

Without moving his mouth, he spoke to both of us.

Tina? You're releasing her?

I nodded towards Einstein. Brianna grinned.

"That is so cool! He talks now?"

The snarky reply came immediately.

I've always talked. You've just never listened.

It was weird to listen to a psychic Pokemon speak. They didn't use their face or any part of their mouth or anything, so it was already really, really weird, but that wasn't the end of it. It echoed throughout the mind, and the words didn't seem to fully face until a few seconds after the being was done speaking.

Also, it was impossible to ignore, and you could always hear it.

Because it was coming from inside you- you were hearing it from inside your own mind, through the telepathy- it was impossible to tune out or ignore. You can ignore people talking, loud noises. I've done it before. This was different. It demanded your attention.

And, because you could never ignore it, you could always hear it. I could hear distinct, different sounds- as he spoke, I could still hear Brianna talking. It was really weird- it felt like my ears were listening for two things at once, and even though they could that, it felt like they were limited. It was going to take some time to get used to.

So, are you going to get on with it?

"Yes," I told him, glaring. He was sarcastic and snarky- something that I'd figured out about him as soon as he managed to talk. I'd only heard a few sentences from him, and already, he was like that. It was interesting though- that he had a personality.

I tossed the ball onto the ground and caught it as it bounced back up. I'd done it so many times by now that it was an almost unconscious action. It wasn't really hard for me to do at all.

Tina had formed and been released before the ball even entered my hand, and she looked different.

For one, she was bigger.

She wasn't at my shins anymore, oh no. As a Pupitar, she was closer to my waist than anything- assuming she was upright and vertical, and not on her side like she was right now. She was a lot longer than she was as a Larvitar, and much less cute, too. She looked at me with dark eyes from inside of her shell and let out a groan.

"Pupitar."

She was entirely silvery-gray, now. The black pock-marks in her shell were still there, along with ones above her eyes that looked like eyebrows, and on the top of her head, her body formed into something similar to a crest, which was really the fin that had been there when she was a Larvitar.

"Hey, Tina, it's been a week since you went into your ball. Things have happened since," I said. She barely moved at all, but the movement she did make- a slight shake of her shell- helped me realize that she'd heard what I said.

"Most notably, I caught this Abra," I said, motioning towards Einstein, who was still floating in the air, facing Tina with his eyes closed.

"I call him Einstein. He's part of the team now," I said.

She gave him a look that seemed to hold no real malice, but also no real kindness, either. She turned back towards me- and even inside the darkness of her shell, I could make out that her eyes still held joy at seeing me.

So, she hadn't changed.

That was good.

With groans that could be considered cheerful if they didn't sound like a person dying, she inched her way over to me on the ground, carving a small trench in the ground. When she reached my leg, she nuzzled against it, brushing against my right hip with the top most part of her shell.

I reached down- and was almost careful to touch her. Tina had never been, and never would be soft, but I was wondering whether or not she'd gotten rougher because of the transformation. And I didn't feel like scraping my hands because I pet her hard and fast like you would a cat.

I carefully caressed the hard shell. It was rougher. It felt like sandpaper.

She let out another groan, only a little higher pitched this time.

"Pupitar," she bellowed.

I sighed, and then grinned.

"I'm never going to understand you, you know that?" I told her.

She said to do it again, Einstein said.

"Really?" I asked him.

It made sense, though, and I was already starting to feel stupid the second the words came out of my mouth. Of course he could understand her! It wasn't like he wasn't a Pokemon, too. I heard a sigh inside my mind.

Of course.

I rubbed her rough shell again, and she nuzzled into my hand, almost like a child would if a parent was ruffling their hair- only, she wasn't annoyed by it.

"You're feeling stronger, aren't you?" I whispered to her.

"Pupi! Pupitar!" she grunted.

Better than ever, she says, Einstein said.

"Good," I said.

"We're going to be setting out from here, soon," I said, this time speaking to Brianna.

"As soon as Jack gets better, right?" she asked.

I nodded.

"It shouldn't be too long, I don't think. He's probably feeling a lot better," I said.

"Why don't we go see?" Brianna asked.

I grinned.

XxXxXxXx

One of the benefits of owning an Abra was that Einstein could Teleport us. He'd gotten strong enough to do it, even if he couldn't really battle anything yet. It only took him a few seconds to gather enough energy to transport the three of us and all of our bags and things back with him to the Center, although after that, he went to sleep because he was tired.

Once he'd Teleported us back to the Center, we wasted no time in making a beeline for the hospital. Once inside, we rushed towards Jack's room, as fast as we possibly could, at least.

We opened the door and found him lying inside, as he always had been.

"How are you feeling?" I asked him.

He looked up as soon as we walked inside, and then grinned when he heard what I said.

"Hey, Daniel! I'm feeling a lot better," he said, glancing at his surroundings.

"It's a good thing, too. I was about to fucking go crazy in here. It's so boring, you have no idea. You were only in here for a few days, but not me," he whispered.

"Do you think you could leave?" I asked.

"I don't know about what I think, but I feel a lot better. My wounds are closed, my blood's back up, and I'm not having any more digestive problems anymore. I'm even walking a lot better than a week ago," he said.

"I'm going to call your doctor in here," I said.

I wandered around a bit until I found a nurse, and then asked for where the doctor was- only to confirm that he was out for lunch this time of day, because it was noon. I went back to Jack's room and told him and Brianna this. I told them I'd be waiting in front of the doctor's office- which took me a little while to find- and then I'd convince him to look over Jack.

He came back maybe thirty minutes later, all of which I'd spent staring at the wall.

The second I saw him coming for the door, I got up and shook his hand.

"You remember me, right? Daniel? I was a patient of yours?" I asked him.

He gave me a look over, and then nodded.

"You're friends with that Jack boy. We released you not too long ago, right?"

I nodded.

"Yeah, and now I was hoping that the same could be done for Jack. He says he's feeling a lot better," I said.

The doctor chuckled and shook his head.

"I'll be the judge of that."

The doctor walked back to the room, with me and tow, and inspected Jack. It turned out that Jack actually was probably as good as he said he was, but he was still issued a few antibiotics and vitamins he'd have to take for a few weeks just to make sure that no other problems with his stomach ever popped up again. The doctor prescribed the medication, and then we left with Jack finally out of the hospital.

The first place we went was the Center, and we walked there this time. I knew that Jack wanted to see his Mareep after all this time, and he had his license and training card.

When we arrived at the Center, he got out his Mareep, and he and his electrical sheep had a nice little reunion, which included Jack getting shocked by static electricity from the Mareep's wool.

I spent the last of my money on supplies when we went out to stock up for the trip right after that, and with our packs full, and with a map purchased, we stopped at Brianna's house for her to say goodbye to her parents.

They were less than thrilled.

Understandably, after what had happened last time- even though they didn't know all of it- they didn't want to let Brianna go.

From what I heard from Brianna later, some things were said on either side that they'd both probably regret.

It ended up with her storming out of the house, and her father following her and yelling- who we all ran away from.

She dried her face by the time we reached the northern gate of town- because we would be traveling north. I got out my map and plotted our next location we'd be traveling to.

There was a much larger town to the north- Cherrygrove. The location of cities and towns weren't all the same, although some were similar. Girk was actually more south than Cherrygrove, but Violet city was still right by Cherrygrove. Things like that.

So, with our destination set, we started walking, and left Girk behind. It'd probably be at least a week and a half before we made it to Cherrygrove, but I wasn't intimidated. We were finally going to start traveling and searching for Terry and Matt, which is what I'd been wanting to do the entire time.

With a few steps out the gate, and the sun shining on our backs, we started walking.

It felt like everything from now on was going to be alright, but I couldn't help but feel that it wasn't true.

For now, though, I was going to concentrate on the journey.

And I was going to take things as they came.

**XxXxXxXxXx**

** That's the chapter. Really late/ extended release, I know. I hesitated on releasing this one for a while for a variety of reasons- one, there's a lot of relationship stuff in this one, and I was wondering if I should release it or not, but damn it, I'm doing it anyway.**

** Two, I wasn't writing for a few days because of laziness and also a lack of direction to take. That's obviously been resolved.**

** After having read the chapter, you can probably guess that a lot of secrets have been revealed, things have progressed and been discussed, and specifically, the relationship between Daniel and Brianna has been advanced-hopefully, for the better, right?**

** You'll have to see.**

** I think that's it. I'm really happy to get this one out.**

** See you until next time.**


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